Blood and Honor
by Gyarren
Summary: A girl is kidnapped by some Super Predators and taken to be hunted. She is rescued by an honorable Yautja-an Arbitrator named Kantra-and sets off for a new life among these strange Hunters. Rated M for violence, language, descriptions of bodily functions, and eventual sex.
1. Chapter 1

**So, okay….**

**As you all know, I've been absent from the fanficton site for awhile now…**

**Depression isn't fun.**

**I just haven't felt inspired to write for a long time, and because of that, I haven't.**

**I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry to all of you for being away so long, and I'll TRY to start updating regularly again.**

**I'm re-writing this story from scratch, and I hope you will remain patient with me.**

**A sincere apology, and this first chapter, is all I can offer you, unfortunately.**

**If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM me, and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator or AVP; I wish I did, but I don't.**

**I do, however, own my own original characters and story ideas.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 1

It was hot… So hot…

The girl stopped and leaned against the trunk of an enormous tree to catch her breath, looking around furtively as she wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.

"_No sign of them…"_ she thought; but she knew they were out there.

Looking upwards, she carefully scanned the canopy high above her: an enormous expanse of green leaves, broken every so often by a small gap, which allowed a few tiny rays of sunlight to stream down to the forest floor below. Only a slight breeze rustled the leaves of the enormous, primordial trees that made up this jungle, causing the odd leaf to flutter to the ground. Really, this place could have been beautiful…

Except for _them_…

Deciding that she'd rested long enough, the girl took another look around and, not seeing anything immediately threatening, moved on through the undergrowth. Staying put for too long was dangerous; not only did she have to worry about _them_, but the local wildlife, as well.

A movement overhead made her stop and scan the canopy again; but it seemed to be nothing more than another breeze, and she continued on. It had been a few hours since she'd seen any sign of her pursuers, and, far from being relieved, she was growing ever more nervous.

She didn't like when she couldn't see them, or have a good idea of where they were; that probably meant that they were plotting something, which never turned out well for their quarry.

_The rest of the class had filed out of the dojo, some looking at her smugly, others with a kind of pity, along with their parents. She was standing alone against the far wall, absolutely humiliated, and feeling, for the first time in a long time, as though she were going to start crying. Once the last family had left, she looked over to the place where her _sensei_ stood, watching impassively as the doors closed behind the last retreating back, and asked, with a slight shake in her voice, "Why?"_

_Turning around slowly, he regarded her for a moment before replying._

"_Because you didn't deserve to graduate with them." the older Japanese man said simply._

"_Wh-what?" she said, now feeling her throat begin to hurt, as her eyes began to burn, blurring her vision; though not enough that she didn't see her teacher walking over to stand before her._

"_You didn't deserve to graduate with them." he'd repeated, and she was about to speak, when he held up a hand for her silence._

"_In the years since you've been coming to this dojo, you have worked harder than most of the others in my classes combined. I'll be honest; most of them are just taking this class for the bragging rights, or to start fights, or because it will look good on their college applications; but you… You're…quite different… No child I've ever taught has worked so hard for this day." he said, before abruptly turning and leaving the room, leaving his student rooted to the spot, wondering what was going on. If she had worked so hard, then why had he announced, in front of the entire class, that she'd failed? She'd known him, been coming to his dojo, for years, and she knew him pretty well by now…or at least, she thought she did…_

_He was, to be honest, not someone who would stand out in a crowd; a forty-something Japanese man of average height, slim build, and generally quiet demeanor. He was in good shape; but not really the kind of build that had women clamoring after him…not that she'd know-or wanted to know-anything about that part of his life. She liked to think of him as kind of a hermit sage, or venerable samurai; eschewing the company of women for the sake of his training. Patient, yet stern, he had overseen her training in karate, a little kung fu, and had even arranged for a colleague of his, who taught krav maga in a rec center a few blocks away, to begin teaching her some basic moves after hours, three days a week. He was never once to mince words or sugar coat anything he said; straight and to the point with everything._

_So the contradictory nature of their current conversation was really confusing her. Unsure of what else to say or do, she silently turned around and began to walk to the locker room to change out of her _gi_, get on the bus, and go back to the group home, where she could curl up on her bed, pull the covers over herself, and cry silently until dinner._

_She really wanted to get going before it started getting dark. There had been some reports of people seeing figures out of the corner of their eye; just a glimpse of someone standing, looking at them from the end of a dark street. A lot of weirdos lived in LA, so one creeper who just stared at people wasn't much to worry about._

_That's what everyone thought; until people started disappearing, and the cops kept finding skinned, decapitated corpses hanging from bridges and billboards like sides of beef. At first, people thought it might have been another stunt by some animal-rights group; or promotion for some upcoming horror movie… But it hadn't taken long before the entire city was in a panic. _

_Then had come the usual shtick: talks about gang violence, hate groups, racism, and gun control._

_Except that not all the victims-the ones that they could identify, anyway-were gang-affiliated; some had been cops, bouncers for clubs and average tough-guy douchebags… And they were all different races; so a hate group was probably out… Not to mention that none of the victims had been shot-not even once-according to the reports on the news and Internet, and one guy at school who overheard his cop dad talking with his buddies about the case. Clearly, there was a real psycho on the loose._

_These thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Sensei's bare feet on the hardwood floor, and the girl looked up to see him returning to the room, holding in his hands a long, folded piece of black fabric._

"_That's why I wanted to give this to you myself; in private." he had said, showing her the belt._

_It was obviously not one of the new ones the others had received; in fact, it looked quite old, and there was a small insignia on one end, done in plain white thread._

"_Sensei, what…?" she said, her heart rising in her chest. This _couldn't_ be what she thought it was!_

"_Oh, yes… My first black belt. I got it when I was a little older than you are now. I worked hard to earn it, and now, I'm giving it to you." he had said, looking at his student with pride as he held the belt out to her._

_With trembling hands, she reached out and gently took the belt, which was doubtlessly older than she was, and tied it around her waist. It was too long for her slim frame, and so she had to tie it around twice to stop it hanging down past her knees._

_She couldn't hold herself back anymore, and ran over to hug her sensei, her eyes now brimming with tears of joy and pride. Her teacher permitted this embrace, giving a quiet laugh at the sudden impulsivity of his favorite student, before she realized what she was doing and stepped away, her face burning with embarrassment. If anyone had seen that… But she couldn't help it; this was the happiest she'd been in a very, _very_ long time._

_But someone had seen, though the pair in the room hadn't seen them…or it, rather._

_No sooner had she stepped away from her sensei, feeling happier than she had in a very long time, than another feeling came upon her._

_She was tired. Very tired… Unnaturally tired. As though she were going under anesthesia, like the time she'd had to have her appendix removed at the hospital; but this was much more…intense. For half a second, she thought that her sensei had somehow brought this about; but a look at his startled face as she began to fall sideways told her that he had not. Just before everything went black, she saw her teacher looking at something across the room, his face going from confusion to utter shock…_

_And then she lost consciousness._

When she'd awoken from that odd, heavy sleep, the first thing she'd seen was green. All around her, there was green. Coming from LA, she was used to the muted grey and brown colors of the buildings around her, and the bright, gaudy colors of signs and billboards; the only time that she really saw a lot of greenery is when she had been younger, and her caretaker had taken her and the rest of the girls in the group home to the botanical gardens. The rainforest exhibit had been like this; full of green, hot, and muggy.

As she had began to gather more of her senses, she saw that there were others there with her; some already awake and looking around, others still unconscious or groggy, like herself.

Eventually, everyone was awake, and some of them began asking questions. Where were they? Why had they been taken? How did they get here? Who was everyone else?

The "where" was almost impossible to guess; other than some kind of rainforest or jungle. The "why" of it was completely beyond any of their knowledge. As for the "how", everyone had a similar story; they'd been going about their business, when they'd suddenly felt irresistibly sleepy, and they'd woken up in this unfamiliar place. The girl had-or thought she had-a vague memory of half-waking in a dark room, with the sensation that she was lying on some hard, smooth surface; but that was the most she could conjure up.

They all began telling their names and occupations. There were two cops, a soldier, back-alley doctor, four gang members from opposing gangs, an MMA fighter, a couple of wannabe badasses, and her. Except for the girl, all the others in their group were men, and older than her; though the gang members weren't _that_ much older.

They had barely got the introductions out of the way, when a rustling from the nearby jungle got their attention, and one of the gang members pulled out his gun-they all still had whatever weapons or gear they'd had when they were taken, for some reason-and ventured slowly forth to investigate. One of the cops said something in warning, and was met by a barrage of expletives from the other gang members, who had been immediately hostile to them upon seeing their uniforms. Slowly, the young man had approached the spot where the rustling had been coming from, but it was quiet now.

Suddenly, something exploded from the undergrowth, bowling the man over and landing on his chest. The rest of them only had a moment to register that it was some kind of…animal…before it had bitten viciously into the man's neck, and blood spurted everywhere like some morbid fountain.

They had all scattered at that point, and two more of the beasts had rushed from the jungle to chase after them. Luckily, the girl wasn't one of those being chased, and was able, somehow, to get a good distance away and find a small crack in a nearby rock face in which to hide and catch her breath.

In the three days that followed, the girl wasn't sure what led to more deaths among the remaining members of the group; the flora and fauna of this strange jungle, the strange, doglike beasts, or sheer infighting. Three of the gang members killed one of the cops, before turning on each other; she only knew this because she could hear the gunshots in the distance, and found the bodies a little later. The MMA guy, one of the badasses and the remaining cop decided to buddy up and headed off in one direction to look for any recognizable landmarks, and were never seen again, leaving the girl to wander around on her own.

It was on the fourth day that she had come across the doctor and soldier, and they had all decided that it would be more advantageous to work together than wandering around alone. She had stuck with them for a few days, during which they had taken turns to sleep and look for food, water and firewood, until about three days later, when the doctor had come back from the nearby stream (the soldier had managed to find a canteen on one of the several desiccated corpses they saw along their wanderings), screaming about invisible men in the trees. At first, the other two had thought he'd tried to experiment with eating some new exotic plant or something, and that he was on a kind of trip; but all too soon, the jungle behind him began to rustle, and _something_ had come from it.

At first, there was only an odd sort of shimmering-a distortion-in the air; but then, a tall, muscular man wearing a mask and some weird costume and armor sort of materialized in the clearing, followed a moment later by two more costumed figures.

The girl, the soldier and the doctor only had a few moments to take in the sight of these odd new arrivals, until the jungle rustled again, and the two remaining hell-beasts (the soldier had managed to shoot the third one a few days before), slowly slinked out to stand behind one of the newcomers. Suddenly, it dawned on the girl that these people must be the creatures' masters; though why anyone would want to own such pets was beyond her comprehension.

A moment later, one of the figures rushed forth, and before either of the others could react, the doctor had been lifted off his feet, and was pinned to a nearby tree, an enormous blade having been thrust through the man's chest. Obviously, these guys weren't a rescue party.

"COME ON!" the soldier had yelled, and grabbed the girl by the upper arm, stopping momentarily to grab the fallen canteen, before running into the jungle, away from the last, pathetic gurgling cries of the doomed doctor.

"Wait! We can't just leave that guy!" she had protested, as branches scratched her legs and whipped her face.

"We can't do anything for him now!" the soldier had growled, still dragging her along.

They had run for what seemed like hours, until the older man had decided that they had gotten far enough away that they could risk a rest against the trunk of a large tree. Uncapping the canteen, he'd drunk some of the contents, and then passed it to her. She accepted it gratefully, and soon, they had sunk down onto the forest floor, exhausted and trying to make sense of what they'd witnessed back in the clearing.

"They're hunting us." the soldier had said at length, sounding as though he'd known this for awhile, and was only now deciding to reveal it to his younger companion.

"What? Those psychos in costumes back there? What do you mean?" she'd asked.

"My grandpa used to tell me that he always liked to go hunting when he was younger, and that his dad would use these special dogs to flush out whatever animal they happened to be going after. That's what those animals were; hunting dogs." he'd explained.

"Not like any dogs I've ever seen…" the girl had muttered, thinking of the spikes covering the creatures.

"No… No animal on Earth looks like that… And I don't think those guys were run-of-the-mill psychos, either…" he commented.

"What are you talking about?"

"Look, kid, bear with me; what if… What if we're not on Earth anymore?" he had said.

"Did one of those branches hit your head?" she had asked, concerned. The last thing she wanted right now was for her only remaining companion to go batshit on her.

"Listen; since we got here, we haven't seen anything, _anything_ that's familiar, right? No recognizable plants, animals or landmarks… I can't recognize any of the constellations, so we've got no idea which way we're traveling. We haven't seen any planes or helicopters overhead; and there are very few places on Earth that aren't in the flight path of some kind of air transport. The only thing that makes sense is that we're not on Earth anymore." he'd finished.

She looked up at him, finding his explanation too incredible to even consider.

"So, those guys back there…and the, uh, dogs…?" she'd asked.

"They were…aliens." he'd said, nodding.

"So, we were all abducted by aliens… I thought aliens just took you and probed your ass and stuff; I've never heard about this kind of thing." she'd said, realizing how stupid it sounded the moment she'd said it.

"Be serious, kid. And I've been a soldier for ten years. You hear things, sometimes; _weird_ things. Like there was this incident, in South America, like thirty years ago-" he'd began, but rustling from the jungle had silenced him before he'd gotten any further.

The two hell-hounds emerged from the bushes, growling menacingly at the pair before them. A moment later, their masters appeared behind them.

They were tall and muscular, a deep blackish-grey color, and had what looked to be braids or dreadlocks coming out of their heads. They were wearing some kind of metal masks, and some kind of armor that looked as though it were made out of leather. On their wrists were enormous blades, one of which was covered in dried blood, and they had some strange-looking contraption on their shoulders. With a rush of horror and revulsion, the girl realized that one of them had, draped over one shoulder, something that looked like a bloody rag; but then realized that the thing was, in fact, a freshly-removed human skin. In the creature's hand, it held a bloody human skull, complete with the spine still attached; the remains of the doctor, no doubt.

She hadn't had time to take in any more details; for the soldier had once again grabbed her wrist and took off through the jungle, leaving their pursuers behind.

They'd barely gotten ten yards, when she'd seen a bright flash of light out of the corner of her eye, and an enormous tree they were passing seemed to explode, showering the two humans with bark and flaming debris.

"Okay, so…say I'm…open…to the possibility…that they…might be…aliens?" she'd panted, trying to keep up with the soldier without tripping or bashing her head against a low-hanging branch.

She didn't know how long they'd run for this time; only that when they emerged into another small clearing, they were simply too exhausted to go any further. It had taken a long time for them to catch their breaths, and by the time they were able to stand and look around a bit, the sun had began to sink behind the unfamiliar mountain range in the distance. Both of their stomachs were growling, and the soldier took from his bag a couple of the pale blue fruits the now-deceased doctor had found for them the day before. As odd as it sounded, the girl had been far too hungry the previous day to really look at the food; let alone realize that she'd never seen, nor even heard of, a fruit this color. Luckily, the fruit, while rather tasteless, hadn't turned out to be poisonous, and even if it had, sheer hunger had outweighed common sense, and they'd eaten it before really thinking of any possible drawbacks.

Working quickly, they'd managed to find some dry sticks in the undergrowth, and had started a pathetic little fire just as the sun set. Huddling around it, they had began discussing their current predicament.

If it was indeed true that they were on another planet-and the blue fruit had been the last bit of evidence the girl had needed to convince her of this, though her logical mind protested violently at the thought of aliens-then there was pretty much zero chance of them being rescued.

"So, what's the plan? Just keep running from those things?" she'd asked, tossing away core of the fruit and leaning forward against her knees.

"We probably won't be running for too much longer. Did you get a look at some of those bodies we've been seeing here and there?" the soldier had asked.

"I haven't been in the mood for sightseeing." she'd replied dryly. He let out a bitter sort of laugh, and continued.

"Well, I did; and a lot of them were wearing clothes and uniforms that haven't really been the height of fashion in over a hundred years. There's also been a couple of bodies that didn't look human to me; which means that these things have been doing this shit for awhile now. Did you see what that one had on his shoulder? And in his hand?"

She nodded, feeling a bit sick at the remembrance.

"They've been taking trophies. I'd bet anything there's some trophy room somewhere with a bunch of "mementos" of those other guys, too; and a bunch more besides. My grandpa had a whole room of deer heads, bear skins…that kind of thing. Never liked that room much…" he'd mused.

A sudden breeze made the jungle around them begin rustling, and the hairs on back of the girl's neck stood up at both the noise and the slight chill in the night air.

"I really think we need to face the facts; whether it's the environment, the animals or those "hunters" back there…we're probably going to die here." he'd finished darkly.

With this charming thought, they had managed to fall asleep that night, neither one of them being able to stay awake to stand guard, as they'd done up until this point.

"_We're probably going to die here."_

Tears began to leak from the girl's eyes as she stared up at the night sky, and she began to cry silently at the thought that not only would she die, but no one she knew would ever know what had happened to her. She'd end up another one of those corpses, watching with decomposed eyes as others faced the same horrors she had; or with her head or skin mounted on the wall in some alien's rec room… Maybe they'd stuff her and use her as a coat rack or something…

She almost had to laugh at that image, but then the tears began anew.

Somehow, she'd gotten to sleep that night, and her pursuers apparently saw fit to let their prey rest for a few hours before resuming their hunt.

By this time, the girl had been on this strange planet for nine days, counting the day she and the others she'd arrived; and how she, a kid from LA, had managed to survive being thrown into the middle of this jungle was beyond her understanding.

She and the soldier didn't talk much anymore, other than what communication was absolutely necessary. The soldier told her, during one of their brief rests, that his name was Joseph Harris, he was 26, and that he was from Nevada. The girl responded by telling him that she was 15, her surname was Grey, and she preferred to go by it, and that she was from LA. They tried to keep as quiet as possible, hoping that the lack of excessive noise might throw off, or at least delay, their pursuers.

Unfortunately, this wasn't working out too well; as the three aliens and their "dogs" seemed to catch up to them every time they tried to rest somewhere halfway comfortable. This, combined with the constant rushes of adrenaline and hypervigilance, was beginning to make them rather paranoid; and the soldier was, unsurprisingly, holding up far better than the teenaged girl.

It was on the tenth night, as they both lay around their small fire, that the jungle began to rustle again, and both of them tensed, ready to run.

They didn't even have time to rise from where they were lying, as the three hunters materialized into view—from three different directions.

They were surrounded.

Slowly, the pair of humans rose to their feet, taking in the sight of the three huge figures around them, and tried to figure out what to do. Joseph spoke first, keeping his voice low.

"Kid, I'm gonna try and hold them off as long as I can; when I tell you, I want you to haul ass into the jungle as fast as you can, you hear me?" he said.

"What are you talking about?" she'd replied, looking at him as though he'd lost his mind.

"Look, if I'm able to hold them off long enough, you might be able to slip away without them noticing which way you went; at least for awhile. It might give you enough of a lead on them to maybe find help, or hole up and hide somewhere until they leave."

"That's your plan?" Grey asked, incredulously.

"It's the only way one of us is going to make it out of this situation alive. Just do what the hell I say!" he said, still keeping his voice low.

She didn't have time to respond; for a split second later, one of the hunters had rushed forward.

"GO! NOW!" he'd roared, and she hesitated for a moment, before rushing into the jungle, barely managing to skirt around one of the hunters, who briefly looked around at her, before proceeding to engage with the soldier.

As Grey ran through the pitch-black jungle, she heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots, roaring, and finally, a human scream, quickly hushed. Tears stung her eyes as she thought of the soldier, probably dead already; but she pressed on, not wanting to waste his sacrifice by getting herself caught so soon.

She continued on as the night gradually faded into day; but it seemed that the soldier's ploy had worked, and she was left alone for the time being…

That had been four days ago.

Grey had been traveling in this direction ever since then, though she hadn't seen any signs of any-living-humans; only corpses, and the occasional dropped weapon or item. She'd managed to salvage a rusty machete, which was a step up from the stick she'd turned into a rudimentary spear by gnawing one end into a point. This had been the only nourishment she'd had for the past two days; all the remaining fruit and the prized canteen of water had had to be abandoned when she'd made her escape from the hunters. She'd found a small stream, in which she bathed and drank the somewhat muddy water until she was about to burst; hoping that the extra water would fill her aching stomach and hold her over until she found another-hopefully cleaner-source of water.

It may have filled her stomach, but the water also gave her a horrendous case of nausea and diarrhea. Vomiting and defecating were made all the worse by the fact that her lack of food meant that there was nothing inside of her for her body to force out; which meant that she was stuck, squatting and retching, behind a large boulder, as her belly and bowels continued to contract painfully for most of the day. Only some foul-smelling, watery feces came out, and the vomit wasn't much more pleasant.

To top all this off, she'd began her period the day before; and the once-white pants of her prized _gi_, which she'd taken such careful care of back home, were now covered not only in mud, but feces, vomit and menstrual blood.

It was about this time that her "friends" had begun a new sort of game, which seemed to amuse them greatly. They would wait until she was otherwise preoccupied relieving herself, and sneak up on her, materializing a few feet away from her, making her jump and fall back into her own warm mess on the ground. This "game" was as humiliating for her as it was amusing to them; and a hatred of her pursuers was burning in her gut by the time of the fifteenth day.

This morning saw her waist-deep in the water at the base of a small waterfall, trying to wash some of the filth off herself, as some insects had been after her, no doubt drawn by the scent of the blood that seeped out of her. She'd left her clothes, machete and spear on the shore, and was about to turn around and head to put them back on, when an all-too-familiar sort of trilling/clicking got her attention.

Whipping her head around, Grey saw that one of the hunters had snuck up to the pile of clothing, and was now examining it, prodding it with one clawed toe, before reaching down and grabbing the whole pile with one huge hand. Mortified beyond belief, she'd watched as he looked through her clothes, each of them taking a separate garment. She became cold as one of them looked at the pair of-formerly-white cotton panties, now rust-colored with her blood.

They seemed to be conversing with each other, though what they were saying, she could only guess. She hadn't washed her clothes, since she had nothing else to put on while they dried, and didn't really fancy wandering around the jungle naked, or wearing cold, wet clothes when the night came. Joseph had been the one to make the fires, after all; and hadn't been able to teach her to do it, with all the running and constant exhaustion.

Humiliation turned to rage as the largest of the hunters reached down and picked up her belt. Out of all her belongings, it was the only one that she truly cared about; a last gift from someone she was sure she'd never see again.

"HEY!" Grey bellowed, and began treading water as fast as she could, not caring how stupid of an action this was.

For a moment, all three hunters seemed shocked by this behavior from their prey; who, up until this point, had only run and hidden from them, and took a couple of steps back when she neared the shore.

"GIVE THAT BACK!" she screamed, pointing to the belt, and reaching land, not caring that she was completely naked.

They came back to their senses quickly, and the biggest of the three looked at the belt, then at her, then the belt again, and began that odd clicking noise, throwing his head back, dreadlocks swinging, at the hilarity of her rage.

"I said give it fucking BACK!" Grey snarled, picking up a rock and, in her fury, throwing it as hard as her weakened body would allow at his head.

His head didn't even jerk back with the force of the impact; meaning that he was either incredibly resilient, or she was horribly weak…probably both. Still, she was the only one she knew of who'd actually managed to land a blow on one of these things…

They had stopped laughing now, and the biggest of the three was regarding her silently, his head cocked, before barking something to the other two in whatever language they spoke. Without a word, they jumped a full ten feet into the low branches of one of the huge trees, re-cloaked themselves, and stood still.

Still regarding her, the hunter held up her belt, his meaning sinking in, though he didn't speak.

"_You want this back?"_

"Give it!" Grey said furiously, taking a step forward, intending to take back her belt.

Then he, too, jumped into the tree with his companions, turned to look at her, and swung the belt tauntingly out of her reach.

"_Then come and get it!"_

And then all three of them jumped into the high branches of the trees, and began heading off into the jungle, jumping from branch to branch.

Grey stood, naked and dripping water, and watched as they departed, fury pushing every other emotion-sadness, embarrassment, fear-out of her mind. They'd kidnapped her, put her though hell, laughed at her, humiliated her, chased her with dogs-sort of-until she was too tired to move…and now they'd taken the only thing that meant anything to her anymore.

No way! No fucking way!

Fuming, she reached down and picked up the machete and makeshift spear, wondering if stealing her clothes and leaving her weapons had been planned, or had been a "stroke of genius" by one of the trio. Either way, she was going to make them regret this. She had had enough of this bullshit; and was going to make her final stand against these things!

**So, what did you guys think of the first chapter? Leave me a review, and let me know someone's still reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay everybody!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any of that… I wish I did; but such is life. I do own my own original characters and story ideas.**

**Please read and review, and most importantly: enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

The enormous ship slowly made its way through space, a magnificent sight to behold. Its shape was somewhat akin to that of a giant fish, and it swam effortlessly through the ocean of blackness and stars.

Inside the ship, the hallways were illuminated by a soft white light, and recesses in the walls were occupied by innumerable skulls, bones, claws, horns, weapons, hides, and pieces of armor; all trophies taken by the ship's inhabitants during their many Hunts.

In some of the larger rooms, these Hunters could be found: a few of them lounging at tables, eating from platters of raw or cooked meat and fruit, while others stood together, retelling the tales of their own Hunts, or of legendary ones of the past. In one of the spacious training halls, several young soon-to-be Hunters were being taught a technique for spearing larger prey when at a distance; none of them speaking while their instructor talked, and all kept their eyes firmly on him, but didn't meet his gaze.

In the upper levels of the ship were the rooms meant for higher-ranking members of this Clan; their walls being lined with fine black stone, painstakingly etched with intricate characters and glyphs that told the history of this Clan, and other such important events.

Here and there along the corridor were large doors, and on them was inscribed the names of the individuals within, and a small keyboard on the wall served to lock the doors, should their inhabitants not wish to be disturbed. One inhabitant in particular…

The Hunter roared with pleasure as his climax hit him, making him arch his back and plunge one final time into the larger female below him, who soon followed with a roar and climax of her own. The two lay together for some time, panting heavily and enjoying the afterglow of their encounter.

After about half an hour, the female rose and strode casually to the bathing chamber, where she washed the male's heavy, musky scent-among other things-from her body, dried herself off, and returned to the main room, where the male still lay on the huge pile of furs, rugs and cushions that made up his bed.

"The season ends in a few days; if you wish to see me again, I would be willing." she said, slipping on her long tunic-dress. Her voice was soft, for one of her kind.

"I would indeed. I have found my time with you to be quite pleasant." the male replied, in a deeper growl than the female's.

"You made that quite clear. In any case, I must return to my sisters now; they will all be eager to tell me of their own…exploits." she said, smiling cheekily at him; or at least, the version of a smile permitted by the strange, arthropod-like mandibles that were one of the most prominent features of the Yautja people.

"And when you tell them of _our_ exploits, pray be kind." the male replied, with a smile of his own, eyeing her curves.

With a small laugh, and what sounded like a deep, rumbling purr, she extended one clawed hand and pressed the keypad near the door, which opened with a quiet _whoosh_, and let herself out, the door closing behind her a moment later.

Now alone, the male lay on his back and contemplated what to do next. Should he have a servant bring him something to eat, and then go to sleep, or sleep now, and eat later? He didn't often have a great deal of free time in which to lounge about, and really wasn't sure what to do with himself when he wasn't training, maintaining his weapons, or teaching some of the younger males.

He didn't have to agonize over his next activities long, however; for a chiming sound let him know that someone had come to his door.

Grumbling, he quickly rose, put on his simple loincloth, and made his way over to the door, wondering who would disturb him now. Vaguely, he wondered if the female had forgotten something in his room, or the bathing chamber; but a quick look around made him abandon that thought.

The door slid open to reveal one of the Young Bloods, standing a head shorter than the older Yautja, and keeping his eyes carefully averted from his face.

Those eyes widened for a moment, however, when the younger male caught the smell of a female's mating-musk, making his mandibles twitch a bit at the intoxicating aroma. The older male let him savor this for a moment, knowing that it would be years before any female would look at him with anything but sneering contempt.

"Do you need something of me, _child_? I assume it is something of great importance, for you to impose your presence upon me in such a manner." he asked, deliberately reminding the Young Blood of his lower position, and partly to wipe that silly, slightly-dreamy look of his face. He didn't really feel as offended by the male's arrival as he made it seem; but it was important for him to maintain a certain air of aloofness, lest lower-ranking Clan members forget their place.

The Young Blood snapped back to reality, composed himself, looking embarrassed at being distracted so easily, and spoke, trying to sound important.

"Elder Yeyinde has requested that you come to his chambers as soon as it is convenient, Lord Kantra." he said.

The older male-Kantra-was surprised by this; the Elder was usually _preoccupied_ during this time of year. What could have made him abandon his pursuit of mating with the females and continuing such an illustrious bloodline? It was either something very important, or very serious.

"Wait here." Kantra ordered the Young Blood, and quickly hurried to the bathing chamber, washed all the stickiness and most of the female's scent from himself, and changed into a much more presentable loincloth and vest, and went back to the door.

"Return to your training; I shall go to the Elder's chambers on my own." he said, and the younger male nodded, before hurrying away. From the look on his face when the scent of mating hit him, Kantra had a suspicion that this young male was about to go and relieve the demands of his loins; this time of year always saw the Young Bloods turning up late to training, meals and every other duty imposed upon them because they were fulfilling their urges the only way they could at this stage. To be a Young Blood, so low in rank that a female would barely acknowledge his existence, and be on a ship with females who were at the height of their estrus cycle… It had been torture for him in his youth… The only thing for a male to do was find some quiet, out of the way place to-

"_The Elder…"_ his mind reminded him, and he snapped out of his reminiscences, chiding himself for allowing his mind to wander to such places while something so important could be happening. Angry with himself, he set off for the Clan Leader's chambers.

Elder Yeyinde lived in one of the highest levels of the ship. Only the highest-ranking individuals, their family members and honored guests were allowed to stay in the luxurious quarters contained here.

Kantra was an Arbitrator-a Yautja who Hunted Bad Bloods, the criminals of their society-and could easily have gotten his own larger quarters here; but he preferred to remain in his current quarters, where he could be around to keep the lower-ranking members of the Clan in line.

It was highly unusual for one so young-only eighty-three seasons, next month-to hold such a high rank. Arbitrators were usually Elders or High Honored Yautja who, having grown bored with regular Hunts, had gotten the blessing from the Council of Ancients to engage in the Hunting of Bad Bloods. This was usually because only extremely experienced individuals could even hope to defeat some of the wretches who had strayed so far from the Path. These individuals had thrown away their honor-the most important thing to the Yautja-and lapsed into lives of hedonism, murder and worse. They could not be allowed to run rampant, besmirching the rest of the Yautja, and causing chaos and pain wherever they went. Kantra loathed these with the intensity of a burning sun; and had made it his sole mission in life to routing them out, wherever they hid, and eliminating them.

But not all Bad Bloods had gained that status by being ruthless killers; some were simply cowards who, failing in a Hunt, would rather flee than commit an honorable suicide and spare their families and Clan mates the shame of their disgrace. Others were those who had stolen the trophies of another-hard to prove, but the punishment was severe when they were discovered-and other such things.

Death was the usual-and preferred-punishment for most Bad Bloods; but other punishments, such as banishment or the stripping of trophies and honor, could be imposed. It was largely at the discretion of the Arbitrator, whose decisions could be overturned by none but the Council of Ancients themselves; and this was incredibly rare.

Arbitrators had to exact great care not to overuse their power; nor be too lenient with offenders. It was a delicate balance, and the slightest leaning either way would surely lead to the ruin of the Arbitrator. Kantra had never heard of such a disgraced Arbitrator in his lifetime; but older Hunters sometimes told tales of Arbitrators becoming too vicious, sometimes becoming indistinguishable from Bad Bloods themselves, or else sinking into hedonism and debauchery, drunk on their own power and thirsty for more.

Kantra prayed to the great god Paya every day that he would never become like these fallen Arbitrators and Bad Bloods; and he was careful to avoid the temptation to be brutal or overly-permissive.

That was why he remained here, with the Blood-Moon Clan, under the continued training and tutelage of the venerable Elder Yeyinde. He could easily have broken from the Clan to Hunt on his own, or even start his own Clan; but he preferred to remain here, where the Elder could guide and advise him—though he did have his own personal ship, in which he went out on his Hunts.

These thoughts preoccupied him as he made his way through the labyrinthine corridors and rooms of the ship, occasionally nodding to other Hunters, and eyeing some of the females, who returned his look with interest. Though he was no stranger to mating at this point, and knew many of the intricacies of dealing with females, Kantra had yet to father a single pup.

He had his reasons for this.

Arriving at the Elder's door, flanked by two armored guards, Kantra forced his mind back to the matter at hand.

"Elder Yeyinde has requested that I meet with him." he said, though his rank meant that no explanation need be given to these two.

They nodded and stepped aside, whereby the door opened for him, and he entered the Elder's chambers.

It always amazed Kantra to look around this place. Elder Yeyinde had, over his long life and many Hunts, acquired a vast collection of trophies, along with relics from the various worlds he'd visited during his travels.

There were the usual skulls, of course; Kiande Amedha, Pyode Amedha and the deadly Quatza-Rij from their own planet. But among these were other skulls; some oddly shaped, with enormous fangs, horns and frills adorning them. There were pelts of varying color and size, and many fangs, claws and horns were strung on ropes and hung from the ceiling above. Pots, bowls, swords, spears, shields, several guns, helmets, armor, tapestries, shells, interesting rocks, strange roots in jars of clear fluid, an entire shelf of Ooman "books", as they called them, made from "paper", which was apparently made from trees, somehow… Kantra was wondering vaguely if his Elder could actually read the Ooman tongue, when said Elder emerged from a curtained-off room a few feet away, which the Arbitrator knew led to his personal bed chamber, bathing chamber, monitoring room, and training room.

Today, the Elder was dressed in a simple brown loincloth and long green robe of some soft fabric, which rippled softly as he gestured for Kantra to sit at a table opposite him.

As he drew closer, Kantra could see that the table was laid out, as it usually was, with the board and pieces of the Elder's favorite game, _So'in_. This game, which the younger male's grandmother had tried to teach him, but for which he'd never had a talent, was one in which an individual could play alone or with others, and was made up of dozens of small tiles with various symbols adorning them. There were also a few small black, white and red stones, whose purpose Kantra couldn't remember. On the board, meanwhile, was painstakingly painted a vast, detailed landscape, carefully measured out into an intricate grid, on which now sat some of the wooden tiles, arranged in what must have been some kind of maneuver, though it made little sense to the Arbitrator.

Elder Yeyinde sat himself at the table and looked over the board, frowning in his Yautja way, apparently having cornered himself, if his grumblings were any indication. Though he was eager to know the purpose for which he'd been summoned, he was careful not to speak. His Elder continued to look over the board a few more moments, before shaking his head in disgust, and looking up at his guest.

"How does this season find you, Kantra?" he asked, eyeing the younger male across from him.

Kantra was about to answer, when he suddenly realized that the scent of mating hung about the room as heavily as it had done in his own quarters. He couldn't help smiling at this; his Elder was still heavily desired by the females, it seemed. In fact, Kantra was certain that there were three different scents in the room; his Elder's, of course, and…_two_ females!

"Apparently not as well as yours, Elder." he replied.

The older male smirked.

"My companions from the night before left about an hour before I summoned you. Were this not so important, I would gladly have kept them entertained for awhile longer."

"My circumstances were similar, Elder; she left only minutes before the Young Blood you sent came to fetch me. She wishes to see me again, however."

The Elder chuckled, his mandibles clicking softly as he appraised his former student.

"Will you honor her request?" he asked.

"Of course."

Before any more could be said, the door's chime announced another visitor, and slid open a moment later to reveal a servant bearing a large platter of fresh, raw meat, four drinking bowls, a jug of water, and a jug of _c'ntlip_. Bowing, the servant excused himself, leaving the pair alone again.

"Eat and drink with me." the older male said, nodding to the plate and bowls, and the younger male was taken aback, but secretly honored and delighted at such an invitation.

Remembering his manners, Kantra poured the Elder's drink first, then his own.

"To the Hunt! To the Clan! To the Yautja!" they both said in unison, and downed the small bowls of liquor, before Kantra poured the Elder and himself another bowl, then one of water for each of them. The water was to be sipped in between the bowls of alcohol, so as to dilute it and stave off drunkenness. Only inexperienced lightweights actually diluted the jug of liquor with water.

Remembering the Young Bloods who, excited by their first taste of the liquor, drank to excess and stumbled around the mess hall like fools, eventually passing out and waking the next morning with excruciating hangovers, only to be told that they would absolutely not be excused from their training because of their own lack of self-control, and that any of them who vomited on the _kehrite _floor would be cleaning every floor on the ship for the next month, made Kantra wary of consuming too much of the drink too quickly.

"Now, I am certain you are wondering why I summoned you here, Kantra…"

The younger male tried to look interested, but not too eager. This didn't escape the Elder, who was often quietly amused by the younger male's façade of stone-faced impassivity, when he, like all Blooded of his age, was secretly excited or anxious. How desperate he was to retain his dignity…

Then again, given certain _factors_, this desperation was understandable.

"I had wondered, yes."

Elder Yeyinde took a deep breath, trying to think of how best to do this, before beginning his explanation.

"Of course, you know that the matter of our existence is not common knowledge among the Oomans…" he began carefully.

Of course Kantra knew that. While the Yautja did seek out the creatures as prey, it was nonetheless generally agreed upon that a Hunter shouldn't advertise their presence to the entire population. There were, he knew, those in the Ooman government who had knowledge of the existence of the Yautja, and that they were always on the lookout to get their hands on their technology; but as far as he knew, the regular Oomans were blissfully unaware that anything could exist in the universe aside om themselves, and the Yautja were happy to let them think this. It just made things…simpler.

"I know this, yes…" Kantra replied.

"Well, according to the communication I received a little while ago, there have been multiple sightings of Yautja in several of the Ooman cities. Sightings in broad daylight, mind you."

This was a serious matter. A Hunter who was foolish enough to allow himself to be seen might also allow himself to be caught; and this couldn't be allowed. It did fall within an Arbitrator's purview to track down and discipline other Hunters… Was this to be his next mission?

"Am I to eliminate them, or bring them back to their own Clan to be disciplined?" he asked, then remembered that it was his choice.

"These Yautja…are not _of_ us." the Elder said, choosing his words carefully.

"I did not think that any of our Clan mates would be so foolish, Elder." Kantra replied, cocking his head. From his first day as Arbitrator, he had made it very plain that anyone who strayed from the honorable path would be dealt with most severely. Every new group of Young Bloods received this warning, and he had yet to mete out any serious punishments to any of them. A well-deserved beating, here and there, perhaps; but he'd never had to kill anyone from this Clan.

"No, I should think not; you have made sure of that. I meant that these Yautja are Bad Bloods."

Kantra's expression changed immediately from bemusement to stone-faced anger.

"Tell me more." he said flatly.

"These are three Bad Bloods from one of the Exiled; they have been running amok all over the Ooman's planet, Earth, and causing untold chaos. They have taken some of the Oomans to one of their backwater planets for their version of a Hunt; but they have slain many, many more in the process. This information has come from a Hunter who was stalking his prey in one of their cities when these three arrived. He was able to survive an encounter with one of them, but was badly wounded. He managed to make his way back to his own Clan, and then sent word to the Council, who commanded that an Arbitrator deal with them before they caused more trouble."

"You said they took some Oomans?" the younger male inquired. He'd heard of this, though he'd never seen one of the Exiles' private Hunting planets himself. Their location was a closely-guarded secret among the ranks of the Bad Blood Exiles, and few Hunters who found these places made it back to tell the tale.

"Yes; though how many, I do not know. Doubtlessly, most, if not all of them, will be with their own gods now. There have been some rumors lately of some ships heading for an area of space not normally traveled by regular Hunters; you could start there. They usually are stealthier than that, but from what the Hunter told the Council, these ones seem young; perhaps they are still proud and foolhardy. You could use this to great advantage in your own Hunt." the Elder advised.

"I shall, Elder. Thank you for the meal and drinks; I must go and make preparations. I intend to leave as soon as possible." Kantra said, standing up and bowing. The two clasped hands in the manner of equals, and the Arbitrator excused himself.

Kantra growled curses under his breath as he neared the Exiles' Hunting planet. It was, from what his computer told him, a lush, jungle planet, similar to what the Yautja generally preferred; but the atmosphere made it suitable for the Oomans that were routinely dropped here to be hunted. There was apparently no native wildlife worth hunting for most Yautja; which also meant that none were likely to come here.

Only the Bad Blood Exiles came here.

The Exiled Yautja were a sort of different race, though they were the same species, overall. They had been banished from the Homeworld several lifetimes ago, and now lived either as nomads on old ships that were slowly breaking down, or on small, dirtball planets where they eked out a meager living by hunting small game and farming little plots of land. They had been banished for the actions of a few particularly violent and outspoken Bad Bloods; an act which some saw as excessive…though few spoke up about it.

These Bad Bloods were exiles among the Exiled; the result of their forgoing whatever honor and pride they had left, and allowing their bloodlust and rage to take over them. They made regular trips to the Ooman's home planet, and others, and sought out the most dangerous creatures they could find to bring here and conduct their own twisted version of the Hunt. When strong, healthy and challenging prey could not be acquired, Kantra had heard, they would take anything they could find, hoping that enough fear, pain and the drive to live would make their prey fight harder for them. It sickened Kantra.

It had taken several days for him to find this planet. He had first gone to see the Hunter who had been wounded by the Bad Bloods, who had told the Arbitrator of his experiences while resting in his Clan's medical bay. Once he'd gotten all the information the other male could provide, he'd set off.

All of his skill as an Arbitrator had been needed to find this small world; but finally, his ship's scanners had picked up the trail of a kind of fuel that was seldom used in the newer ships, and seeing as how the only time the Exiled Bad Bloods had new ships was when they killed all those onboard and stole them, Kantra had decided to investigate. His hunch had paid off, and as his fine, sleek ship entered the atmosphere of the planet, he began his preparations for the battle that was to come.

Donning his _awu'asa_, he carefully checked that his wristblades and wrist computer were in working order, and that all the functions of his mask were working properly. His mask was not nearly as elaborate as those of others of his rank; all he wanted it to do was aid him in his duties, nothing more.

Grabbing his combi-stick, several knives, plasmacaster, throwing discs, and his prized sword, he inhaled deeply, and exited his ship.

Time to go to work.

An hour of tracking in the jungles had led him to a small clearing, and as he approached it, he heard what he instantly knew to be a Yautja's roar of rage and pain. Hurrying quietly, he switched on his armor's invisibility function and ducked behind a nearby tree, wishing to observe his enemy a bit before engaging them.

What he saw when he looked into the clearing was the strangest damn thing he'd ever witnessed in his life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hope everyone's enjoying the story so far!**

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**It will please me.**

**Chapter 3**

As Grey chased the strange hunters through the dense, muggy jungle, she couldn't help but think that this was the stupidest thing she'd ever done. Yes, they had taken her belt; but was she really willing to die to get it back?

Well, yes, actually…

It wasn't just about the belt; it was because she'd been taken to this place to be hunted like an animal, humiliated, constantly frightened and traumatized, chased, attacked, and now, _mocked_, by these damn things. She hadn't had a good night's sleep since she'd come here, nor a proper meal or decent bath, and she was, officially, 100% done.

She didn't have many delusions about actually taking all three of them on; but sheer rage and indignation drove her onwards, shoving the branches and leaves aside, hacking at others with the machete, and all the while keeping an eye on the canopy, where it seemed like her alien friends were making sure to let her glimpse them-or at least, the odd shimmering that told her of their presence-every now and then. They were leading her, and she knew it.

Perhaps they, too, had tired of this prolonged game of cat and mouse, and had decided to end it now, before going on to do whatever it was they did when they weren't off kidnapping and killing people.

It was all the more important that she get the belt back because, she was certain, she would never see her Sensei again.

The thought had been in the back of her mind for days now, though she'd tried to push it away every time it popped up, that Sensei had been with her when she'd been taken. She'd decided that these hunters wanted prey that presented a challenge, and since she was certain her teacher would have fit the bill nicely, the fact that he was not here meant that he had likely not survived his own encounter with the three.

She had also tried to avoid thinking about the possibility that _he_ had been the intended target, and that she had been taken when he'd put up a fight, because they needed somebody, and she was already unconscious. But then, why not knock _him_ out, instead? Everyone in the group had agreed that they'd all been drugged somehow; so that meant that they _must_ have intended to take her…

But why? Why take the student-even an advanced one-when the teacher was right there? She couldn't figure this part out. And how long had they been stalking her before deciding to take her? Days? Weeks? It had dawned on her long ago that the rash of odd sightings and skinned, mutilated bodies had been their doing; and if that was true, they'd been in the city for about ten days before she'd been taken. But all those bodies…in ten days? They must have been on a real spree…

These thoughts coursed through her as they led her along, until she came out into a small clearing, in the middle of which stood a large, pointed structure sticking out of the ground. It looked like an enormous claw, and beside it, all three hunters were standing, waiting for her.

"Give me my belt!" she yelled, wasting no time. They looked at her for a moment, then began that strange clicking again.

They were laughing at her…again!

Grey couldn't take it anymore and, seizing the stick spear in one hand, tried to throw it at the one holding her belt. She, however, had only thrown a javelin a couple of times in PE, so she had nowhere near enough knowhow to do any real damage, and the stick bounced harmlessly off the creature's armored chest, and fell to the ground.

Kantra tried to make sense of what he was seeing as he held his position behind the trunk of the huge tree.

The three Bad Bloods were indeed in the clearing before him; but they were currently unaware of his presence. Their attention was being held by an Ooman, standing in the clearing opposite them.

A _naked_ Ooman.

A naked _female_ Ooman, if their anatomy was anything like that of his own people.

An _angry_, naked female Ooman, if her stance and the way she was yelling at them was any indication.

Kantra had never seen an Ooman before; at least, not in person. But now, here one stood, and a female, no less! He wasn't sure how to tell with them, but this one seemed young; too young to be properly Hunted, even if she had presented a decent challenge.

In her hands, she carried a large knife and what looked like a pointed stick. The knife wasn't in good condition, and the stick looked like it was just picked up off the ground. Even for a fully-grown male, these would have been pathetic excuses for weapons…

He was surprised a moment later, when the female made an attempt to hurl the stick like a spear into the chest of the largest of the Bad Bloods, but it only bounced off and fell to the ground. It was almost laughable, if it weren't so pathetic. A combi-stick, expertly thrown with enough force behind it, would have easily pierced through the thick leather armor that the Bad Bloods favored; she may as well have tried to fight them with a leaf…

Seeing that her spear hadn't worked-not that she really thought it would-Grey tried to come up with another plan as all three hunters looked at her and began to laugh again. After a moment, the biggest one took her belt out from a pouch on his own belt, and began swinging it lazily from one finger, taunting her again.

Grey was-sort of-ready this time. Reaching down and grabbing a nearby rock, she made as though she were going to throw it again, making them step back slightly in surprise. With their guard momentarily down, she charged at them with everything she had. Apparently, they were taken aback by this sudden burst of speed from a creature that they'd been running to exhaustion for days on end, and this, and an absolutely insane amount of luck, allowed the human to grab her belt out of the hunter's hand.

Watching from behind his tree, Kantra was impressed by the ooman's speed; but more so by her bravery. He didn't know the significance of the long piece of fabric, but it seemed quite important to her, to the point that she was willing to risk such a conflict to retrieve it.

Honor.

It was one of the few things that could drive one to do the most courageous and foolhardy things to gain or maintain it. Somehow, this scrap of fabric must have been linked to the ooman's honor. He had never known a Bad Blood to act this way; nothing meant anything to them anymore.

"_I will have to bury her properly, when the Black Warrior claims her."_ he decided, and continued to watch.

Grey let out a cry of joy and triumph, as she snatched her belt away from the hunter, and was about to turn around and run back into the jungle, when something blazing hot missed her head by barely a foot, searing the skin on her shoulder and destroying some of the undergrowth nearby.

Grasping her shoulder, which was already beginning to blister, she turned around to see that the largest hunter was aiming a laser sight at her, made up of three small dots, and that either he or one of the others had called their "dogs", who crashed through the undergrowth a moment later, slavering and as hungry for her blood as their masters.

Whatever projectile he'd sent at her had come from the still-smoking cannon on his shoulder, and Grey's eyes widened in shock and pain as her shoulder ached.

Kantra stifled a growl as he watched the largest Bad Blood shoot a burst of hot plasma at the ooman, which only narrowly missed. Yes, they must have been young; an experienced Hunter would have been able to hit a moving target with ease. But what really riled him was the fact that he was shooting at something that would require-he assumed-only minimal effort to bring down. Then again, these Bad Bloods always seemed to be more interested in the kill than the Hunt.

For Yautja, the Hunt was the priority, never the actual killing of the prey. One may enjoy the stalking, the chase or even the fight; but the killing was something to be taken very seriously. Prey who presented a challenge should be given a quick and merciful end; not a long, drawn-out torture, as was apparently the intention of these three before him.

Wanting to get a better vantage point, Kantra silently jumped into the lower branches of the tree, knowing that the attention of those in the clearing was currently occupied by the ooman.

"_Okay, now what?"_ Grey thought to herself, watching as the laser sight traveled to her chest.

Somehow, instinct told her to dodge at the right moment, and she narrowly avoided being blown apart by another blast from the cannon. Rolling behind a small boulder, she crouched on the ground and tried to think of what to do next.

They intended to end it here. She had either become too boring or troublesome for them to have any further use for her, so they wanted this to be over now.

But Grey wasn't going to cooperate. If she was going to go out, she was going to go down fighting!

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself, tied the belt around her naked waist, and tightened her grip on the rusted machete.

She wanted to live.

She was ready to die, but she wanted to live.

It was an odd feeling, a paradox, really; but Grey was ready to fight to the death for the chance to go on living. She didn't know what kind of life she'd have on this planet, if she managed to come out of this fight alive; but it had to be better than ending up a trophy, didn't it?

From somewhere deep, deep within her, a loud, animalistic roar erupted, and she charged from behind the boulder, praying that this would take the hunters by surprise again, and raised her machete for the attack.

It worked, and it didn't; for the largest of the hunters got off another shot, which, again, narrowly missed her, burning the right side of her abdomen. He didn't have time to get off another shot, however, for Grey was soon upon him, hacking away wildly at any part of him she could reach. Somehow, one of her vicious swings managed to knock the deadly cannon from his shoulder, and as he stumbled back from sheer shock, he stepped on it, rendering it useless.

It was only their utter shock that kept Grey from being killed up until now; but that was quickly wearing off. As blow after blow rained down, some connecting with flesh, sending spurts of glowing green blood everywhere, others with armor, the hunters began to regain their control of the situation.

Quicker than Grey would have thought possible, everything considered, the largest of the three reached out and grabbed her by one arm. She only had a moment to register what had just happened, when she was flung, hard, across the clearing, landing painfully against the trunk of a tree.

Kantra winced a bit for the female as she collided with the tree.

He had to admit now; this one had spirit. When she had come from behind that boulder, the cry she'd let out reminded him of a Yautja warrior's roar. It was a primal sound, full of rage, anguish and bloodlust.

The fact that she'd actually managed to land a few hits on the Bad Blood's unprotected shoulders and arms was even more surprising; but it was their shock, rather than her skill with a blade, that allowed this. The way she swung the weapon was…well, it made him feel awkward, as an appreciator of the fine art of throwing, thrusting and slashing with his carefully-maintained collection of knives, spears, discs and swords. But he did find it amusing when the Bad Blood's stumbling around made him destroy his shoulder cannon, which the ooman had managed to knock off in her attack. That would make things easier for him, when the time came for him to engage them himself.

Grey barely had time to recover from the impact, when the hunter, now covered in slashes and blood, and thoroughly pissed, strode purposefully toward her, reached down, and grabbed her roughly by the throat, his huge hand easily encompassing her neck.

Turning, he began to walk toward the huge structure in the middle of the clearing, dragging her along as she stumbled over lose rocks and roots, and slammed her, hard, against the base of the monolith, tightening his grip as he did so.

Grey felt like gagging from the sheer force being applied to her throat. She couldn't breathe! How many minutes could a human live without oxygen? Three, wasn't it?

Slowly, the hunter reached up and began to disconnect what turned out to be little hoses on the side of his mask, each one letting out a hiss as it was removed. He then removed the mask, to reveal the strangest visage Grey had ever seen.

Four mandibles, tipped with whitish-grey tusks, around a mouth full of sharp, mean-looking little teeth. A very high forehead, mean, sunken, bloody-looking red eyes…

What the fuck _was_ he?

The other two, who by this point had joined what Grey presumed must have been their leader, likewise removed their masks, to reveal similar faces.

Mandibles twitching, they all stared at her for a few moments, before the big one holding her leaned forward and, uncomfortably close now, extended a long, pinkish tongue and licked some of the blood that had been drawn when Grey had hit the tree. Seeming to savor the taste, he did this a couple more times, loosening his grip slightly.

With his free hand, he tossed his mask aside, then brought the hand up to slowly, almost gently, run his rough and across her cheek, before turning her head carefully this way or that way.

What the actual _fuck_?

Kantra felt like vomiting into his mask.

The sight of this, of Bad Bloods holding a naked female-even an ooman-against her will like that… It lit a fire of pure rage inside the Arbitrator that only their deaths could quench.

The larger one had removed his mask now, and was actually licking the blood from the ooman's disgusted face, before tossing the mask aside and beginning to examine her. Kantra knew that he was looking at her and admiring how fine a trophy she'd make.

Then the ooman did something completely unexpected…

The alien roared in pain as Grey's teeth sank into one of his fingers, which had come too close to her mouth. She could feel the tough hide break under her canines, and tried not to puke at the disgusting saltiness and metallic taste of his blood as it trickled down her throat.

She supposed the big one must have ordered one of the others to help him, because the smallest one quickly came over and tried to force the human to let go with a painful blow to the head.

Nope. Grey wasn't letting go!

Several more blows followed the first one, until the girl's vision began to get hazy, and the other hunter was finally able to pry her loose from his companion, who's hand was streaming blood now, and who had apparently decided to end this here and now.

Reaching down, he again grabbed her by the neck with his bleeding hand and held her high in the air. With the other hand, he reached into his belt and grabbed a wicked-looking dagger. He was holding her with his injured hand, and Grey could feel the bright green fluid trickling down her chest and legs as she looked into the face of the hunter.

A face that, a moment later, he was covering with both hands, howling in agony.

Grey had been managing to keep hold of the machete by the leather strap at the end, and had brought it in a slashing motion across the hunter's face while he'd had his guard down while holding her.

When his companions finally managed to drag his hands away, all of them saw that the slash of the rusty blade had severed the hunter's two left mandibles, which were lying on the ground, twitching slightly and oozing green blood.

Grey somehow landed in a kind of crouch and, as the three were distracted, saw her opportunity.

Though the hunters were all wearing tightly-fitting leather armor, there seemed to be a small gap between the bottom of said armor and their odd metal loincloths. It was now or never, and without thinking, Grey plunged the machete deep into the big hunter's belly. The machete was one of those that had a half-smooth, half-serrated blade, and as she plunged the huge knife in further, she began, with all her remaining strength, to push the blade back and forth in a sawing motion, cutting a horizontal line in the thick, scaly flesh.

Blood poured from the wound like a waterfall, and when the opening was big enough, some of the creatures innards began popping out, like disgusting, long snakes, to drop into a pile on the ground. The smell of blood and bile and guts permeated the air, making the girl sick to her stomach. She actually retched up a bit of foul-tasting, clear spittle as another wave of blood and other stuff came gushing out of the wound. Some of it landed on Grey, who continued her sawing motion until, with an ominous sound, the machete's blade broke off in the hunter's belly.

The hunter looked at her for a minute, then his wound, and then fell to his knees, blood continuing to pour from his severed mandibles and abdomen. He began to bleed from his mouth as well, and his two companions stumbled back, shocked at what had transpired in such an infinitesimal span of time.

With a last, perplexed look at the human, the largest hunter fell forward into the pile of his own innards, and stopped moving.

She'd won. She'd defeated him.

Leaning back against the monolith, Grey panted exhaustion. Her victory was short-lived, however, when she heard one of the other hunters, apparently the "dogs'" master, bark something at them in his own language. The creatures, who had begun to circle the clearing like sharks, had begun to lick their lips at the smell of the dead hunter's guts, and were no doubt almost desperate now to sink their wicked fangs into fresh meat.

Looking around quickly, Grey's eyes caught sight of the hunter's dropped knife, which was in far better condition than the rusty machete had been, and quickly reached out to seize it in both of her hands, it being almost like a short sword to her. Knowing how stupid she must have looked, and thankful that no one she knew would ever see this, she held it like samurai in the movies held their katana, and prepared for her last stand…

Kantra had been watching all of this with a kind of awe. This ooman was…well…_amazing_; and few things were able to elicit this kind of excitement from him!

When she'd bitten him, he was amused; when she'd cut off two of his mandibles, he flinched a bit (Yautja mandibles were very sensitive); and when she'd actually managed to bring him down… He was in awe of this fierce little creature! Wearing nothing but that scrap of fabric around her waist, she'd issued her challenge, and won against the enemy she fought; and she'd used her wits to do it!

He had no time to continue to admire her bravery, however; for one of the others quickly regained his senses and had ordered his beasts to attack. They were now incensed by the smell of all the blood in the clearing, and would doubtlessly make short work of the ooman.

But she surprised him again; this time by picking up the fallen hunter's dropped dagger and getting into a kind of…fighting stance, he supposed, and held the long dagger like a sword, kind of…and prepared to defend herself.

Kantra made his mind up then and there. If she still had that much fight in her, that much determination to live, after all she'd been through, then she deserved to live; or at least, not to die and be left to rot, alone and forgotten, on this wretched planet.

Jumping down out of the tree, Kantra ran to the middle of the clearing, disabled his optical camouflage, and roared at the Bad Bloods and their hell-beasts, making his presence known.

"Another one?" Grey said out loud, as yet another of these creatures materialized out of thin air behind the other two. This one was wearing a different kind of armor, though, which shown silver in the afternoon light, and was decorated with many strange symbols, all etched into the metal. He was also carrying a sword across his back, and a spear in his hand. Several smaller knives and other bladed weapons hung from his belt and a strap across his chest, all glinting dangerously as they caught the light.

Grey was just wondering if this one was the boss of the others, when the one with the dogs issued another command, and the beasts turned their attention from her to him, seeming not to care who they attacked, as long as they were able to kill something.

It was all over in a matter of seconds. The dogs lunged at their intended prey, he drew and swung his sword faster than Grey would have thought possible, and the creatures fell to the ground, twitching, then becoming still.

Strangely enough, they then seemed to converse with one another in their odd language, along with some growls, chirps and clicks, until the new one seemed to decide the time for talk was over, and got into a fighting stance. Remembering her own attempt at a samurai stance, Grey was deeply embarrassed.

The dogs' master, whether from the loss of his pets or sheer stupidity, next took his turn to make a run at the newcomer. He tried to stab and slash at him with his wrist blades, but was blocked every time. The new guy's movements were completely fluid and effortless; almost dancelike, and they kept this up until the silver-clad one spotted an opening, and with another flash of his sword, completely decapitated his opponent. The head fell to the ground with a thump, and rolled a few feet away, the eyes still blinking, and the expression of surprise.

The third one, meanwhile, seemed to decide that he'd better not risk a confrontation with the stranger, and had turn to flee back into the jungle. Almost lazily, the stranger threw his spear at his target at just the right moment as he was passing a tree, impaling him through the shoulder and pinning him firmly to the trunk. With another quick movement, he removed one of the weapons from his belt and flicked it, revealing a deadly-looking thing that Grey figured must be some kind of shuriken, and was proven right when he threw it with deadly precision, where it landed with a sickening sound, silencing the roars and whines of pain being issued by the last remaining hunter, who thereafter hung limply against the tree's trunk.

He then turned around, and began to walk toward her.

Bending down, he examined her for a moment, before reaching out a clawed hand toward her. But Grey, unwilling to be touched by another one of these things, reacted swiftly, slashing with the fallen hunter's knife at the new one's hand, drawing blood, and hauling herself to her feet, ready to fight again, despite her wounds, exhaustion and a possible concussion from being slammed against the monolith and hit in the head so many times.

Kantra looked down, surprised and strangely amused, at the small wound the ooman had been able to make in his outstretched hand. He had forgotten she'd still had the Bad Blood's dagger, and so this mistake was completely his fault. The female rose shakily to her feet and prepared to challenge him again, the look on her face was that of someone who was ready to die, but who would fight with everything they had before finally succumbing.

Oh, yes; this one was special!

When he'd made his presence known to the remaining Bad Bloods, they'd demanded to know who he was.

"I am Kantra, an Arbitrator from the Thwei-Luar-ke Clan; and you know why I am here." he had growled.

This seemed to make them nervous, and the stink of fear-musk soon began to fill the clearing. These three were indeed young; quite a bit younger than himself. He had only needed to watch them from afar to see this, with all the mistakes and bumbling that they'd done.

"We know that you're interrupting our Hunt!" one of them dared to argue.

"Your "Hunt" is a travesty! You have drawn the attention of the oomans, along with likely a thousand other violations of our Code of Honor; I am here to punish you for these crimes."

"What concern of yours is our Hunt? And as for _your_ Code of Honor…" he said, and spit on the ground between them, the other one chuckling.

"That is all your Code means to me!" he snarled.

"You will soon regret those words." Kantra warned.

"And who will make us regret them? You?" he asked, sneering, and turned to the other one.

"I've heard of him; the bastard son of some _lou-dte kale_ who thought she was a huntress-"

Kantra's enraged roar cut him off. This insult, the gravest of insults, would cost them _dearly_.

The other Bad Blood wasted no time, and set his hell-beasts upon Kantra, who effortlessly slashed them to ribbons, and when they lay, dead and useless upon the ground, their master let out a shriek of rage and ran at the one who had put them down.

Though his huge wristblades slashed furiously through the air, Kantra was able to block them with little effort. His blind rage and inexperience meant that it wasn't long before he let his guard down and gave the Arbitrator an opening, which the Yautja lost no time in exploiting, and sent his head falling to the ground to land beside his beasts.

The last one, meanwhile, had began running toward the perceived safety of the jungle in a cowardly attempt to save himself. Disgusted, Kantra threw his spear at the fleeing Bad Blood, pinning his shoulder to the trunk of a tree, and used one of his deadly throwing discs to end him, the weapon embedding itself deeply in his neck.

"_He could have at least _died_ like a proper Yautja; since it seems he never lived like one."_ he thought bitterly to himself, and had then turned his attention to the ooman.

He'd reached out to her without thinking, and had received the wound at which he now looked. Still, he needed to get the weapon away from her, and with minimal effort, reached out, plucked it out of her hands, and dropped it, where it stuck, blade-first, into the ground a little way behind him.

What happened next would bewilder the Arbitrator for years to come.

When the newest hunter reached out and took the knife from her, it was too much for Grey. The adrenaline seemed to wear off immediately, and the days of running, fear and starvation all seemed to compile their effects at once. What was going to happen to her when she passed out? Would she be taken somewhere else, to start this nightmarish process all over again?

This thought brought tears of rage and frustration to her eyes, and she began to cry like a baby; but also, the sheer absurdity of the possibility, of everything that had happened to her so far, was making her laugh wildly. Then again, maybe it was the blows to the head…

Whatever it was, it was all too much, and she could feel herself passing out, falling to the ground…

"Fuck my life…" she muttered, and the before the world went black, she saw the masked face of the hunter looming near her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, everyone!**

**I just wanted to apologize for the lateness of this chapter.**

**The truth is, I had almost finished writing Chapter 4, when my computer decided to DIE ON ME!**

**Luckily, I'd already uploaded the previous three chapters, and a couple of character origin stories I'm working on onto a USB drive, so they, at least, are safe.**

**Unfortunately, I was then tasked with rewriting the entirety of this chapter, all the while haunted by the knowledge that a great deal of original short stories, photos and a rather extensive music library, could be gone forever.**

**I am tentatively hopeful that the nearby computer shop can save my machine; or at least clone the contents of the hard drive onto a USB, so I can continue with my writing on my tablet, on which I am now writing.**

**I should also like to add that I am visually-impaired; so typing on a tablet is something of a challenge for me. It may take me a little longer than I would like to get the chapters out to you guys for awhile; so please be patient.**

**Enough about my problems! On with the story!**

**I dedicate this chapter to the memory of my faithful Windows XP computer. May it rest in peace…in my closet.**

**Or not, if they can fix it, in which case, yay!**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, Tomb Raider or any other trademarked or copyrighted stuff. All I have are my original characters and story ideas.**

**Seriously, my life ****sucks**** and this story is the ****ONLY**** thing giving me any joy right now.**

**Chapter 4…again…**

_Pain…_

_Darkness and pain…_

These were the only things Grey knew as she lay there, hovering between consciousness and unconsciousness, wishing that one or the other would take her.

When she was asleep, she would dream fitfully of tall, hulking monsters with crab-faces and blades for arms, chasing her through an endless forest of hanging corpses, with the snarls of animals just behind her.

But during the brief periods in which she was somewhat awake, there was the pain. It came in constant, throbbing waves, all over her body, and made her almost long for the nightmares.

Eventually, it seemed that her body wanted to be awake now, and she slowly opened her eyes to see…nothing.

That frightened her; the last time she'd woken up in darkness like this, she now realized, it had been aboard the hunters' ship, which had been taken her and the others to that jungle. Was she in another such place?

No; she didn't think so. For one thing, she was lying on something soft; something that definitely was not the hard floor of a ship.

A bed?

Gingerly feeling around, Grey's exploring fingers met what felt like some kind of fur. Unsure of what to make of this in her semi-delirious state, she very carefully sat up and looked around, but saw only the near-darkness that surrounded her.

All except for a small rectangle a couple of feet to her right, which was glowing faintly.

Not knowing what else to do, and needing to make something happen, she reached over, biting her lower lip as her body protested the movement, and touched the lighted panel.

As soon as her fingertips made contact with the smooth surface, light flooded the room, almost making her cry out, both in surprise and with the sudden pain of the violent change to her vision.

Very slowly, she opened her eyes again, letting herself adjust to the light gradually, and had a look around.

She first noticed that she was no longer in the jungle.

"Well, duh…" she thought, feeling like an idiot.

This room was a much smaller than the one on the ship that had taken her from Earth; though since her moments of consciousness aboard that ship had been so brief, she really had no way ok knowing for sure.

She was indeed lying on a bed; a _big_ bed. That bed was covered by what turned out to be an enormous fur coverlet…though it wasn't from any animal that Grey had ever seen. It was a creamy tan color, and patterned with formations of stripes and spots that didn't think belonged to any animal on Earth. It also appeared to be a single piece; so how big had this thing _been_?

This thought was put on hold by the realization that her lower half had been lying on a piece of white cloth, which was now stained by several bloody places. Embarrassment nearly made Grey collapse when she realized that whoever had brought her here had noticed such a thing.

But who had brought her here? That was the real question.

Continuing to look around, she saw a small table and chair, over the back of which hung…

"My belt!" she thought, having not noticed its absence before now, and feeling ashamed because of it. At least whoever brought her to this room hadn't left it back in the clearing or thrown it away.

Feeling slightly better, she continued to examine her surroundings. On the walls hung several bleached skulls of creatures that she couldn't begin to identify, along with what looked a random assortment of parts from some kind of huge, shiny black insect.

"Yeesh, hope I never run into one of those things…" she muttered, shuddering. The little brown cockroaches that sometimes put in an appearance at the group home were bad enough; but bugs that size… Nope!

It was then that she saw the masks, hanging on the wall opposite the insect parts.

They were on the highest shelf of a large cabinet with transparent doors, and below them was an impressive assortment of knives, shuriken and a couple of absolutely exquisite swords.

Grey liked swords. She really wished that Sensei could have taught her how to use the katana in his small collection; but he had chuckled and told her that he was just a collector and appreciator of history, and had no more knowledge of how to wield a katana than she did.

"Life isn't an anime, _Tsuki-chan_." he'd said, smiling, and using the nickname he called her when they were alone. She had loved and looked forward to those times. This had been when she was eight.

Grey smiled, then felt a lump in her throat as she remembered that she'd probably never see her teacher again; all because of-

"Oh, fuck me!" she swore out loud, suddenly remembering the clearing, the hunters, her triumph in killing the big one, and then the others and their dogs growing closer…

"Then that new guy came out of absolutely fucking nowhere and took them out in like, two seconds…" she thought, trying to piece together the events.

And then, she'd grabbed up the dagger of the one she'd killed, and pointed it at him when he'd gotten too close to her; but he disarmed her with disheartening ease, and she had…passed out.

The last thing she remembered seeing was the masked face of the new hunter coming closer, and then waking up here.

So, he must have taken her from the clearing after she'd passed out; but why?

But then, did that mean that she was on his ship now? Were they flying through space? It was a terrifying thought; but not as terrifying as the one that immediately followed.

"_This is his bedroom. I was sleeping in his bed."_

Her hair, matted and filthy as it was, almost stood on end at this, and it almost made her sick to think that he might have…

"No way; with the size of those guys, I'm sure I'd know if he'd done anything." she reasoned. She wasn't in any pain down there, so she tried to force that particular thought out of her mind. She neither knew, nor wanted to know, about that aspect of these creatures.

Sighing, she made up her mind that she should get out of this bed and take a look around. She was still quite weak, however, and nearly collapsed again when she tried to put her feet on the floor, only to find that bed was several inches higher than she was used to.

At last, she managed to stand, finding the smoothness of the floor to be a welcome improvement over the rough grass, dirt and rocks that she'd been forced to traverse for the past couple of weeks. The floor was also quite warm, and she enjoyed the sensation for a moment, before shakily standing up.

There were two doors in this room, on opposite walls. If the aliens were anything at all like humans when it came to interior planning, then it was likely that one of those doors led to whatever passed for a bathroom with their kind. The other, then, must lead out into the rest of the ship.

Bracing herself against the wall for support, Grey made her way slowly over to one of the doors. Beside it was another wall panel like that next to the bed, and when she put her hand on it, the door slid silently open to reveal what indeed seemed to be a bathroom; albeit an unusual one.

Hoping that what she thought the toilet was indeed the toilet, she made use of it, wondering how she could have to pee so badly when she hadn't had any water for at least a day. There was a recess in the wall next to her, and she saw that it contained a number of what looked like large, folded napkins or paper towels, but that felt more like cloth. She used one of them and, hoping that they were disposable, hesitantly dropped it into the toilet bowl.

Upon contact with the water-or whatever liquid was in there-it vanished, and the cosmic commode flushed itself with surprising force.

The sink took a few minutes to figure out; but she finally just put her hands over the basin, and warm water poured out immediately. It was one of those automatic faucets, she supposed.

Using another one of the napkins to dry her hands, if for no other reason than to watch the water in the bowl be whisked away, she then examined the large stall in the far wall, which had a number of small holes in the floor, presumably to drain water away. A shower.

She yearned for a hot shower, having only been able to wash herself briefly in whatever bodies of water she'd come across in the jungle. However, she wasn't sure how her host would feel about her helping herself to the facilities, and had to settle for a whore's bath with warm water from the sink and a couple of those weird paper towels, which she was glad to find didn't disappear when the water hit them.

Not wanting to venture out completely naked, she went back over to the bed, feeling a bit better after cleaning herself off a bit, and had soon folded the cloth on which she'd been lying into-

"_A diaper. I'm wearing a diaper."_ she thought miserably, as she used her black belt to secure the fashion disaster she'd created. It was made all the worse by the fact that she'd taken a few of the napkins and stuffed them inside the thing to keep it clean as long as possible.

"Please don't let me die wearing a damn diaper…" she implored the powers that be, and, taking a deep breath, put her hand on the panel beside the other door.

It led out to a small corridor, and she steadied her nerves as she began to make her way out of the room, continuing to lean against the wall for support as she tired to cover herself with her free hand and wishing that the cloth had been big enough for her to pull up further, or better yet, that she could have found a blanket; but there didn't seem to be any in the room, and she wasn't going to drag that fur around.

Oh, well. Nothing she could do about it now, she decided, and kept inching along.

Kantra sighed and leaned back in the chair, his eyes tired from staring at the monitor for so long.

It had only been a few hours since he'd left the Bad Bloods' jungle planet, and after he'd gently placed the ooman onto his bed, he'd come back the ship's main interior room to begin cleaning his trophies and review the footage on the Bad Bloods' masks.

As he'd stood in the clearing, watching as the ooman had lapsed into unconsciousness, he'd heard her utter something quietly to herself but, since he knew no more of her strange tongue than she did of his, didn't waste time trying to decipher her words.

The first order of business had been the collecting of his trophies, which only took a couple of minutes. He'd hesitated for a moment, before adding the head of the Bad Blood the female had killed to those already in the mesh bag he'd brought with him for this purpose. He then took the fallen Exiles' Bio-Masks and wrist computers, intending to review the audio and visual recordings of their escapades, both here and on the oomans' world.

Once this was done, he called his ship to land in the clearing near his location. He no longer needed to use stealth, his mission having been accomplished, and as the ship set down a little way from him, a kind of wild impulse hit him, and he gently gathered the little ooman into his arms.

She weighed almost nothing to him; she was already small, and appeared to be quite malnourished. Wondering what had been going on here, ascended the ship's ramp and closed the door behind him.

He had laid her carefully upon his own bed, having already decided that she had more than earned a quiet pace to die, if nothing else. To die in a soft bed, in a quiet room… Such a thing was a luxury among the Yautja…

Well, the males, anyway.

As he lay her down, he noticed some smears of fresh blood on her legs, and on his armor. Since he didn't see any wounds that were actively bleeding, he assumed that she had some kind of internal trauma from the fight in the clearing. Not surprising, considering how hard she'd been thrown against that tree. He could do nothing for her, however, besides lay a clean cloth beneath her. He, like the vast majority of Yautja, knew almost nothing about ooman anatomy, let alone how to mend their wounds.

No, usually interactions between Yautja and oomans ended with one or both of them being wounded.

Cleaning himself off in the bathroom, he then turned off the lights and left the female in the room alone, fully expecting to find her dead the next time he entered.

It was a grim thought; but there was nothing he could do now.

One thing he did have to do, however, was find and destroy the Bad Bloods' encampment. It was really more a thing of principle and pride than necessity, but as Kantra looked around the small campsite, littered with the bones of both the Bad Bloods' meals and victims, and decorated with the polished skulls of oomans and beasts, strung up from branches and clattering softly in the light wind, he had to admit that it would feel good to see this place obliterated.

He then quickly placed the explosives around the camp, and on and in the Bad Bloods' nearby ship, which was of an older model that Kantra couldn't believe had been able to make it to the oomans' world and back without some kind of catastrophic mechanical or systems failure.

Once he was sure his own ship was well out of the range of the explosion, he detonated the powerful bombs, and watched with a sense of bitter satisfaction as the enormous mushroom cloud rose up from the surrounding jungle.

He had then left the planet, clearing the atmosphere and entering the velvet darkness of space. Only then did he remove his own Bio-Mask, having no use for it on the ship.

The skulls hadn't taken very long to clean. Kantra was very practiced at preparing his trophies by now, and three new ones now sat, staring at him with blank eye sockets from a recess in the wall.

He'd debated on whether or not to prepare the ooman's trophy for her. Usually, it would have been the ultimate taboo for an honorable Yautja to claim another's kill as their own; but since Kantra was only cleaning and polishing it for the female, who surely wouldn't have known how to do so, he reasoned that it would be all right.

"_If she lives, I will give it to her, to do with as she wishes. If she dies, I shall place it in the Clan's entrance hall with a marker stone telling the story of her bravery. Perhaps that will motivate some of the Young Bloods to train a little harder."_ he'd decided, as he placed it beside the others. There was no danger of confusing it with either of the others; it was the only one with the two left mandibles missing.

With nothing else to distract him, he collected the three Bio-Masks and wrist gauntlets from the bag and began viewing the footage, using his ship's computer to connect to them and show the images and audio on the large main monitor.

It would take awhile to view everything, and he wasn't looking forward to seeing through the eyes of these degenerates, but there wasn't much else to do during the journey back to the Thwei-Luar-ke Clan's ship.

Before this, however, he accessed the footage from his own Bio-Mask; specifically, the fight between the ooman and the largest of the three Bad Bloods, and saved it in his personal archives. He then sent another copy to Elder Yeyinde, who was sure to be interested in the event, along with the news that he'd completed his mission.

As he viewed the footage from the recovered Bio-Masks, a rage began to grow within his chest, and he wished dearly that he could have the chance to kill his foes again.

The three had began their twisted Hunt as their kind usually did; scatter and terrify the prey with their hell-beasts, then track them down and eliminate them one by one. Save for one, who had apparently serving as a companion to the female, none of the others had even managed to wound any of their pursuers. The aforementioned male had yelled something to the smaller female, who had hesitated, before hurrying away into the jungle, and had then pointed his primitive gun at one of the Bad Bloods, shooting him in the shoulder. The larger Yautja, however, had responded with a shot from his own shoulder-mounted plasmacaster, which blew the ooman completely in half.

This left the female as the last living member of her group, and they had apparently decided that, instead of simply killing her, as they had the others, they would make sport of running her to death.

Kantra watched as chased her relentlessly, always letting her glimpse one of them in the canopy, in order to keep her moving as long as possible. They only allowed her a few hours of sleep, and a few sips of water now and then to keep her going. Another sickening aspect of their chase was their fondness for waiting until she tried to relieve herself behind some rock or bush, then switching off their optical camouflage, startling her so that she fell back into her own excrement on the ground. They really seemed to enjoy this new cruelty, and took turns doing it. It explained, however, the female's horrendous smell.

Finally, she'd tried to bathe herself in a small lake beneath a waterfall, and to add insult to literal injury, they'd taken her clothing, which she'd left on some rocks at the water's edge. It was an incredibly juvenile thing to do; the kind of thing a foolish young male might do to embarrass one of his sisters while still in his mother's clan.

For the ooman, however, it had been the final indignity, and she'd come running out of the water, roaring something in her own language at her tormentors, and gesturing angrily at the long fabric belt held by the largest of the three.

Kantra was amused when she'd picked up a rock and hurled at him, which did no damage, of course, and they, seeing that they'd riled her, taunted her with her stolen belt, before taking off into the trees.

They had then led her through the bush, completely naked, and into the clearing. He didn't bother watching this part, because he'd been there to witness it.

Curiosity gripped him then, and he told the computer to search the footage for everything relating to the female. He wanted to know how they'd come across her in the first place. It took a few minutes, but soon he was watching the events of the her capture in chronological order.

They had found her, surprisingly, when she was fighting with a slightly larger male. This surprised Kantra; for he'd always heard that the female oomans were somewhat more docile than the males.

He noticed that both the female and male, along with many in the crowd that surrounded them, were wearing the same kind of white clothing, except that some of them had belts of different colors tied around their waists.

He watched, interestedly, as the female used some kind of flip on the male, using his own weight against him, and sending him sprawling onto his back on the blue mat on the ground. Impressive.

A few people in the crowd clapped briefly, and the male stalked off to a smaller group that must have been his friends, while an older-looking male came over to speak with the female.

The footage then switched to the female, clad this time in another uniform, sitting alone outside of a large brick building. Many other oomans, some older, some younger, were milling around, all wearing the same clothing. A loud bell was heard, and they all filed into the building, ushered inside by a few older-looking oomans. Such an odd place.

He then watched as the ooman sat in the yard of a smaller dwelling with two floors and several windows, practicing her fighting movements with a look of concentration that would put the Young Bloods back at the ship to shame.

A plump female then came out of the house and called to the younger one, and she followed her inside. Soon thereafter, four or five other females came in from behind the house and followed the other two.

The next part nearly made the Arbitrator roar in frustration and anger.

The footage then shifted to the inside of a building, where again many oomans in white uniforms were gathered, standing in perfect rows before the older male from before.

Many chairs were arranged along the walls of the room, and in them sat many more oomans of varying ages. They were wearing what Kantra figured must have been what served as normal ooman clothing, and some were holding up electronic devices, presumably recording the events in the room before them.

The male in the front of the room began calling out what must have been the oomans' names; for they came, one by one, to stand before him, where they bowed to each other, and were presented with one of those fabric belts.

"_He must be a teacher of some kind."_ Kantra deduced.

One by one, every student came up to receive their belt, after which they sat on a bench along one wall, with some of the other oomans calling out to them intermittently. It had to be some kind of graduation ceremony, the Yautja guessed; though he couldn't be sure.

But, it seemed, one name had not been called; for the female stood in the middle of the room, alone.

Finally, all of the other students had their belts, and the teacher said something loudly to all those in the room, whereupon they began to file out through the large doors at the back, leaving none but the teacher and his confused-looking student.

They exchanged words for a few moments, and the teacher then disappeared through another, smaller door, leaving the female completely alone. She stood there for a few moments, and had just turned to leave, when the teacher returned, carrying another belt in his hands.

He said something else to her, and handed the belt to her, and she responded by shrieking happily and flinging her arms around him, and he briefly returned the embrace, before they broke apart, the female's face turning red at what she'd done.

That was something new to Kantra; had he or any of his group tried to embrace their instructor… He shuddered to think of what Elder Yeyinde would have said and done at such a brazen, undignified act.

Clearly, though, the female and her teacher were on different terms with each other.

Then it happened. One of the Bad Bloods had shot a nearly microscopic dart from his wrist gauntlet, full of a kind of sedative that would keep the target asleep for several hours, or even a couple of days, depending on the concentration.

The ooman didn't even have time to register that she'd been drugged, before she fell, unconscious, to the floor. Her teacher managed to catch her an instant before her head would have connected, and laid her down carefully, looking around in confusion.

It was then that the Bad Bloods had made their presence known, materializing before the stunned male ooman, who rapidly collected himself and stood over his downed student, getting into a fighting stance.

The Bad Blood took a couple of steps closer, and the teacher responded with a flurry of punches and kicks that Kantra was sure would have injured or even killed a normal ooman, and perhaps injured an unarmored Yautja. The Bad Blood took a few steps back in surprise, and the teacher readied himself for another onslaught, should he try to come near the female again.

He didn't have the chance.

Suddenly, the teacher's face contorted in confusion and agony, as the enormous wristblades of another Bad Blood were thrust through his torso from behind. In their cowardice, they had all three ganged up on two unarmed oomans; one of whom was currently immobile on the floor.

The front of the teacher's white uniform was instantly stained crimson with blood, and a rush of blood came from his nose and mouth as well. The Bad Blood lifted the male up into the air on his wristblades, before hurling him against the far wall, where his body fell, unmoving, to the floor.

They had then roughly grabbed the female and taken her back to their ship, where they put her in an enormous cage with the others, and set out.

It made no sense! Why take the student when the teacher was right there? If they'd wanted a challenge, why take the female?

His answer came when he reviewed the logs of the Bad Bloods' communications with each other.

It was well-known among the Yautja that the females of most species were not to be considered as prey, unless a certain set of criteria were met. Females with pups, those who were pregnant, old ones, and those who were otherwise unable to defend themselves were to be left well alone. However, should she prove to be a decent challenge, whether through strength or ingenuity, a female could be Hunted lawfully.

These rules, in fact, nearly if not all the rules of a proper Hunt, were soundly dismissed and ignored by most of the Bad Bloods whom Kantra had encountered; and this time was no exception.

The gist of their plan was, that while the female might provide them with poor sport, compared to the males they'd already captured, her presence might spur them into fighting amongst themselves, or else have a couple of them attempt to protect her, thereby heightening the tension, and making their Hunt more entertaining.

Kantra had to savor the delicious irony of this, upon seeing that it was the Bad Blood the female had killed who had suggested this ludicrous plan.

"So, did she give you the challenge you were expecting, hm?" he asked the skull on the shelf. Though it hadn't been his kill, he felt an unmistakable sense of triumph as he watched again as the ooman took down the Bad Blood.

A metallic clattering made him jump slightly in surprise, and he turned around, growling furiously, wristblades unsheathed…

…to see the ooman, leaning against the wall, looking with confusion and fright from Kantra to the monitor, on which an image of herself, standing stark naked in the clearing, had been paused.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone!**

**Hope you're all enjoying the story so far!**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), predator, Alien versus Predator, or any other trademarked and or copyrighted material. All I own are my own original characters and story ideas.**

**Chapter 5**

Grey stared at the scene before her, not sure what to make of what she was seeing.

There was a big-screen monitor in the front of the ship, along with several smaller ones, and what looked like some kind of control console or dashboard, where lights of various colors blinked intermittently, while lines of alien text scrolled across some of the smaller screens.

The thing that had shocked her, so much, in fact, that she hadn't watched where she'd been going and nearly tripped over a mesh bag on the floor containing what looked like a bunch of weapons, was that there, on the largest monitor, was a still image that must have been from the earlier fight in the clearing. There she stood, naked as the day she was born, holding the rusty machete, about to fight the largest of the hunters.

She'd only seen a glimpse of this, however, when the sound of her accidentally kicking the bag had drawn the attention of the ship's only (as far as she knew) occupant, who rose from his chair with a vicious, snarling growl, and raised his in preparation to attack, the long blades attached to his gauntlet shining in the light as they were extended.

Clearly, he did not appreciate being interrupted.

"_Oh, God… Please don't tell me I walked in on his fap session…"_ she thought. She didn't think she handle THAT right now.

A split second later, the alien seemed to realize it was her, and with one fluid motion, retracted the deadly serrated blades and pushed a couple of buttons on the console behind him, which made the screen go blank.

He then took a few steps toward her, and her heart began to pound, hard, in her chest as she drew back against the wall, before sliding to the floor and trying to make herself as small as possible, and began to tremble as she expected him to bring the blades or some other weapon down on her.

Finally, he crouched, about a foot away from her, and clicked softly, slowly extending a clawed hand toward her. Flinching, she drew back a bit, but dared to look up into his face. He had taken his mask off at some point before this, and there was nothing to obscure him from her view.

He was….different from the others.

For one thing, his coloring was a kind of brownish-grey, with tiny black spots here and there. The texture was different, as well, for while the others had an almost scaly look to their skin, his was more like that of the beaded lizards she'd seen in the zoo a few times. He wasn't as broad as the others; though his height was comparable. His mandibles were also smaller than theirs; less pronounced and slightly less intimidating. The hair (if that was indeed what it was) that grew from his broad skull to hang down his back was a surprisingly light shade of brown; not dirty blonde, but just very light brown. There were silver and gold rings adorning the tightly-braided locks, along with a few small charms that tinkled softly when he moved.

His eyes, though…

His eyes were a light amber color that an artist would have gone crazy trying to duplicate; but what really stood out to Grey was the way he looked at her.

It wasn't what she would call a "soft" look; more a look of…what was it? Understanding. That was it; understanding. As Grey looked into this hunter's eyes, she knew, somehow, that they had something in common; though she didn't know what.

He reached forward again, and this time, she didn't draw away. With surprising softness, he rested one huge hand on her shoulder, and shook gently, before backing away a bit to let her make the next move.

Hoping that she was doing the right thing, she extended her own hand and mimicked the gesture, shaking his broad shoulder in the same manner.

This did seem to be the right thing, and he gave her a satisfied look (she supposed), and cocked his head for a second, before standing up and brushing gently passed her, heading down the corridor that led to the bedroom. That made her a bit nervous; was she supposed to follow him? The thought of being alone in a room with this creature, especially a room with a bed, made her nervous all over again.

There was the sound of things being moved around, and then of him growling quietly to himself, and soon thereafter he returned, holding something in one hand.

It turned out to be a large, thin blanket, of a fabric that felt not dissimilar to cotton, in a plain beige color. He unfolded it and draped it over her, whereby she stood up, infinitely grateful to have something covering her nakedness after all this time.

With a little tying and folding, she'd managed to create for herself a kind of toga, which seemed to either impress or simply amuse the alien, who then led her to sit in a nearby chair. This chair was clearly designed for his kind, however, and though she was quite tall for a fifteen-year-old girl (5' 7", to be exact), her feet still dangled a few inches from the floor.

An awkward silence hung in the air as the human and alien hunter stared at each other for a few minutes, neither knowing what to say, even if they could speak the same language. What would happen to her now? He'd saved her; but why? What plans did he have for her? Was he going to take her somewhere else to hunt her himself? Or, perhaps, did he have something more…personal…in mind. She remembered the image of her naked self up on the monitor, and really hoped that she wasn't cruising around in outer space with some kind of interplanetary pervert who hadn't seen a woman (or his species' equivalent) in months…or longer.

These unsettling thoughts were interrupted by a loud beeping from the console, and he broke his amber gaze away from her grey one to hurry over and press a button, and another alien voice, a bit deeper and more growly, filled the room, and her alien responded every now and then.

She was listening in on an alien phone call!

"Oh, gods…" Kantra thought miserably, as the ooman looked at the image behind him. Quickly, he switched off the monitor and retracted his wristblades, knowing that he'd frightened her with his display. Paya only knew what she thought he was doing.

As he moved toward her, she pressed herself against the wall and slid to the floor, curling up in a defensive position. He stood a little away from her and attempted to reach out and shake her shoulder; a common and friendly greeting among the Yautja.

Of course, she wasn't familiar with Yautja mannerisms and etiquette, and flinched away from his touch. In that moment, he caught her gaze, and as he stared into her wide, dark grey eyes, he saw that she wasn't frightened of him…

…she was terrified.

"_Who could blame her?"_ he thought, not breaking his stare. Normally, for a lower-ranking Hunter to stare into the face of his superior-especially an Arbitrator-might have meant a severe beating, if nothing else. However, Kantra reasoned, the ooman didn't know this, and so, he chose to forgive it.

There was something in her gaze though; it was familiar to him. Slowly, the terror in her eyes vanished, to be replaced by a kind of understanding; as though they had, somehow, at some point in their lives, shared a similar experience.

Without taking his eyes from hers, he again extended his hand and this time, she didn't pull away from him. Gently, he shook her shoulder, being careful not to grip too hard, and after a moment, she seemed to comprehend the gesture, and returned it.

Wanting to earn more of her trust, though not entirely knowing why, he stood up and brushed passed her, and went to rummage in his sleeping chamber's closet, looking for something with which she could cover herself.

At length, he found a sheet, and brought it to her, putting it over her so that she might understand what it was for.

Standing up, she soon fashioned the sheet into a makeshift dress, tying this and folding that, until she had something serviceable. This, he decided, was a small example of the kind of quick thinking that made the oomans such worthy prey.

Taking her over to a chair, he had her sit down, and it almost made him laugh softly to himself at seeing how small she was as she sat in it. It was almost like a small pup sitting in its mother's favorite chair.

Then there came a silence, which neither one of them seemed sure of how to breach, and Kantra had never been so grateful to hear the sound of his ship's computer alerting him to an incoming communication.

Since there were only a few others who had his ship's hailing codes, he wasn't surprised to see that it was Elder Yeyinde contacting him. No doubt he wanted to discuss Kantra's mission, and the data files he'd been sent.

"Elder," Kantra said, watching the ooman out of the corner of his eye. She looked at him with interest, but otherwise remained silent in her chair. "have you had a chance to review the data?"

"I have, indeed. I take it your Hunt was successful?" the older male asked casually, and Kantra could hear a hint of a smirk in the old Yautja's voice.

"Yes, Elder. The three Bad Bloods have fallen…but as you saw, only two were slain by my hand…"

"I saw… I must say, I have never witnessed anything like that before. I knew oomans were full of surprises; but I never imagined… What happened to the female after the confrontation?" the Elder asked.

This made Kantra a bit uncomfortable. Though he knew that he hadn't really done anything that went against the Yautja Code of Honor, the fact that there was a live ooman aboard his ship was a sticky issue, to say the least. He chose his words carefully before replying, not knowing how the Elder would react.

"She…lost consciousness after witnessing me defeat the other two. She is a brave one, I must say; she even brandished a weapon at me, even with her injuries and in such poor condition!"

"Impressive! You have not Hunted them before, have you?" the other male asked.

"I have not, Elder."

"You should, when you find yourself near their planet again. They can be quite surprising; a very worthy species. In any case, what became of the ooman?"

"I… When she fainted… I brought her aboard my ship…" Kantra said uncomfortably.

On the Elder's end, the Arbitrator heard something shatter, and the sound of coughing and cursing, and was slightly alarmed.

"Elder?" he asked.

"Y-you have her… You have her aboard your sh-ship?" the older male managed, through his coughing.

"Yes, Elder. I did not wish to leave her to die in such a lonely, unfamiliar place. She has earned a peaceful end. Surely you would agree?" Kantra ventured.

"I would." the other agreed, and coughed slightly.

"Are you well, Elder?"

"I am fine. I was drinking a bowl of c'ntlip and your words surprised me… Never mind that now; what of the ooman? Do you intend to have her body incinerated aboard the Clan ship?"

"I… I do not, Elder… Not at present, anyway…" the younger male said, shifting awkwardly from one foot to another. Even though he was a fully-grown Hunter now, the Elder could still sometimes make him feel as though he were still the older male's hot-blooded young student, and that he'd just answered wrongly to a question that had an embarrassingly obvious answer.

"And why not? From the footage you sent me, she has earned a place among the honored dead of this Clan."

"She has, Elder…or she would have…were she…actually dead…" Kantra said quietly.

"The ooman is…_alive_? Are you certain?"

"I am looking at her right now, Elder. She woke up a little while ago and made her way to the bridge."

The female, who was still watching Kantra with interest, was now trying to untangle a knot in her long black hair, and was swinging her feet a few inches above the floor, the way a pup might do in a chair that was too big for it.

"Sweet gods… She has endured all that, and is still breathing…" Elder Yeyinde said, almost to himself, sounding impressed and astonished.

"To be honest, Elder, I thought she would have died by now… I had intended on having her body burned and placed in the Hall of Honored Dead, as you said; but now I must admit I am at a loss as to what I should do with her." Kantra said, letting out his concerns in one long breath.

Elder Yeyinde was silent for several minutes, but then spoke up again.

"If she survives long enough, I ask that you bring her aboard the Clan ship. I will have the Healers examine her, and we can proceed from there." he said.

Kantra was shocked by this. True, he hadn't known what to do with the ooman, now that it appeared she might pull through; but to actually bring her aboard the Thwei-Luar-ke's ship… Still, it was more of a plan than he had at the moment.

"I will set the ship to maximum speed, Elder. She is up and moving around now, but it would be better for her to be looked at by the Healers sooner, rather than later. I should be back in a few hours' time." he said.

"Good. I would say to feed her; but I do not know if oomans and Yautja can eat the same kinds of food… I do know that they drink water, however. Give her some water, Kantra. If nothing else, she can have something in her stomach. I will talk with Kwei and see if he can make some kind of translator. It would make it easier to gain her trust…or at least, her compliance. I must go now. Come and see me when you arrive, and we can discuss your mission." the older male said, and ended the communication.

Kantra turned and looked at the female, who was still trying to untangle her hair, muttering to herself as she did so, and wondered how she would react to being on a ship surrounded by Yautja, who would no doubt be extremely curious as to why she was among them.

Since the female seemed sufficiently occupied, he went to the ship's tiny kitchen and filled a drinking bowl with water, which he then brought to her. She sniffed it briefly, then gingerly tasted it, and proceeded to down the whole bowl, after which she held it out to him, obviously asking if she could have more.

She drank two more bowls of water, before settling back in her chair to look at him, both of them unsure of what to do next.

It was then that the idea hit him: perhaps they might try and learn a few words of each other's languages. It couldn't hurt to try and develop some basic communication, and perhaps, establish a bit of trust. If nothing else, it could help to pass the time until they docked at the Clan's ship.

Grabbing another chair from underneath the table, he set it up opposite her, before sitting down and trying to think of where to begin. Learning each other's names seemed like a good place to start.

"Kantra." he said, gesturing to himself, and she jumped slightly, obviously startled to hear him speak.

"Kantra." he said again, repeating the gesture, and waited, hoping that she would understand.

Her eyes widened in comprehension, and she repeated the name, though mispronouncing it slightly. A few more minutes of practice soon had her saying it properly, however, and then, he moved on to her name.

"Kantra." he said, again gesturing to himself, and then to her, cocking his head to indicate his curiosity.

She understood readily enough, and seemed to think for a moment, before saying her own name, which sounded as foreign to him as he knew his own must sound to her.

It took a little longer for him to pronounce her name correctly, but soon, he leaned forward and gently shook her shoulder again.

"Grey." he said, and she returned the greeting, placing her small hand on his shoulder and shaking.

"Kantra." she said, and the corners of her odd mouth turned up a little, exposing her teeth. Normally, this might have been taken as an insult or challenge; but Kantra decided that it was merely an ooman's odd version of a smile, and that the fact that she was smiling was a good sign.

They worked on simple words for the next few hours, with the female-Grey-occasionally drinking a bowl of water or making use of the lavatory, before returning to her chair, apparently keen on continuing her lessons.

At length, Kantra felt that she'd learned enough Yautja words to test her, and pointed to the water jug, before looking at her to say the correct word.

"_Ju'dha_?" she asked, and he nodded, and pointed to his sword, which hung on the wall.

"_H'sai-de_?" she said, using the basic word for "sword". Technically, she should have used "_al-Nagara_", which was "longsword"; but he'd let it slide, for the moment, and pointed to a few more objects around the ship.

She was a quick learner, he decided, when she was able to identify nearly everything he showed her, albeit with a few more pronunciation mistakes, then seemed to take it upon herself to begin teaching him a few of her own words. By the end of another hour, he'd learned the ooman words for table, chair, bed, toilet, shower, computer, monitor, and a few others.

At last, she yawned widely, and with a few scattered words and gestures, asked Kantra if she could go back to the bedroom for more sleep. He nodded, and she soon disappeared down the corridor, leaving him alone on the bridge to think.

"_She learns quickly…and her abilities are impressive, for one so small…"_ he thought, as he put the water jug and bowls away, and went back to his chair.

What, he wondered, would become of her after the Elder had questioned her? Surely, they wouldn't simply kill her; but could they risk returning her to her kind, after everything she'd seen? Would they keep her as a captive, to be caged for the remainder of her life?

"No. The Elder is too honorable for such a thing." he decided. But still…

It was then that a thought struck him like a thunderbolt, and he nearly cracked his neck as his head jerked up at the very idea.

Perhaps she _could_ remain with the Yautja… Not as a captive; but as a huntress in her own right.

This was such a revelation that Kantra stood up and began to pace across the floor, his heart beating quickly at the very notion of the thought.

It was true that the Yautja had, on very rare occasions, allowed other sentient species to Hunt and live among them; but he'd never heard of any in his lifetime, nor even in his mother's lifetime.

Only those who have performed some truly extraordinary feat of bravery, or showed exceptional combat skills, or saved or aided a Yautja in battle could even be considered for the honor of an invitation to join the ranks of the finest Hunters the universe had ever known.

And yet…

Had this female, this Grey, not achieved such a feat? Had she not survived on a hostile planet, where others before her, far better-armed and trained than she, had perished? Had she not confronted and even killed one of her tormentors? Had she not been willing to die honorably in battle, rather than be their prey any longer? She had even raised her blade to an Arbitrator; and drawn blood, no less! What might she do, then, with some proper weapons, armor and training, on top of her determination and cunning? What honor would she bring to herself, and to whatever Clan she joined?

In his mind he saw her, in shining armor, fighting off a hoard of _kiande_ _amedha_; their glossy black heads and limbs flying as she swung a sword with devastating accuracy. He saw the Thwei-Luar-ke Clan hailed by the Council of Ancients as one of the finest the Yautja race had ever produced, and himself, Kantra, being told that his name would be sung across all the future generations, as the one who saw the ooman's potential, and brought her to his Clan.

"_Perhaps then, finally…"_ he thought, but his daydream was interrupted by the ship's computer. They were approaching the Clan's massive flagship, and as the docking bay's doors opened, Kantra put his thoughts of glory on hold, for the moment, at least, and composed himself.

Going back to the bedroom, he gently shook the ooman awake. She still looked quite tired, and was still unsettlingly pale. The burn on her shoulder was an ugly, raw reddish color, and Kantra knew it must be quite painful for her. At least the Healers would be able to help her; at least, he hoped so.

Motioning for her to follow him, he led her down the corridor and pressed the panel on the wall beside the ship's door, which immediately opened, the ramp sliding smoothly out of the floor to allow the pair of them to exit the vehicle.

They were here, the Clan's flagship, the jewel of the Thwei-Luar-ke Clan.

**Sorry it's taken so long for me to update this chapter, guys! I've been having more computer issues the past few days. I'll try to get the next one out to you soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello!**

**So, as you all probably know by now, I've been having some issues with my computer as of late. They have been partially resolved, and I hope to start updating on at least a weekly basis, but perhaps even twice a week, if we're all lucky.**

**So, here's chapter 6!**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP or anything else that's copyrighted, trademarked, blah blah blah. All I own are my original characters and story ideas.**

**Chapter 6**

Grey's mouth fell open as she looked around at the massive interior of what had to be the hunter's mothership.

Several large vessels sat on either side of the one they'd just exited, some looking a bit beat up, others newer than this one, but all were sleek and were, without question, more advanced than anything Earth had to offer.

The big guy, who had told Grey that his name was "Kantra", looked around for a minute, and then proceeded through the huge hangar, with the human hurrying to keep up with him.

As they passed one ship, Grey spotted two more of the hunter's species, crouched around a large compartment in the vehicle's side, apparently doing some kind of maintenance work on the craft. One of them happened to look up and, upon seeing the human, dropped the tool it had been using with a loud, metallic _clank _that echoed spectacularly around the enormous room. Obviously irritated, the other one stood up and wheeled around to see what had so shocked its companion, and its mandibles dropped open as both creatures stared at Grey as she and her hunter passed, with the big guy turning briefly and saying something to them in their odd tongue, after which they slowly returned to their work, but were clearly deep in conversation as they did so.

As Kantra led her out of the hangar and into the ship's interior, they passed more hunters, and several more objects-a bowl, a set of wrist blades, and a knife-were dropped in surprise as they witnessed the strange sight before them. Several times, Kantra had to turn and, Grey was sure now, tell them to go about their business. She was beginning to think that this guy must have been some kind of bigshot among his kind; for most of the others bowed submissively to him before hurrying away, and none lingered after he'd given his commands.

On and on they walked, through large rooms and tight corridors, past more hunters, and many, many more trophies-skulls, mostly-that were hung everywhere. The only ones Grey recognized were those of humans, which didn't help ease her discomfort about being on a ship surrounded by these creatures.

As they passed one room, several hunters-maybe a dozen or more-hurried out into the corridor to block their path. All of them were wearing what looked like some kind of headband, with an odd symbol, and the same, simple brown shorts, and all seemed to be a little shorter than Kantra. Putting these things together, Grey decided that they must be…students, maybe?

They bowed quickly to Kantra, almost as an afterthought, and began to talk, all at once, in their language, gesturing to Grey and trying to get a better look at her as she tried to make herself look smaller.

After a couple of minutes, it became clear that Kantra had had enough, and roared something at them, gesturing for them to go back in the room they'd just come out of, which they all did, albeit sullenly, some of the braver ones daring to cast sullen glances over their shoulders as they disappeared through the door. Grey supposed word had spread of her presence on the ship, and these hunters-in-training had wanted to get a look at her, but her guide's intervention put a stop to their gawking.

Now grumbling to himself, Kantra led her through a few more rooms, until they found themselves outside a large, smooth door with some of that alien writing on it. Kantra pressed the panel on the wall beside the door, and it opened, and they went through.

There were several more of the aliens in this room; but these ones all wore what looked like long, light-brown robes, and some of them were wearing some kind of apron-looking thing over the robes.

Looking around this room, Grey saw several large tables, covered in sheets, and a few trays of shiny metal instruments that gave her an ominous feeling. There were a few machines and computers along the walls, along with many more instruments in glass cases.

This was a hospital, and the aliens were doctors.

Grey began to grow nervous as she took in the view, and wondered if they were going to dissect her, or, far worse, vivisect her.

While these thoughts troubled the human, Kantra seemed to be deep in conversation with these alien doctors, occasionally gesturing to Grey, apparently trying to explain something.

After about ten minutes, one of them came over to her and reached out, making Grey jump back in fright. What did they want from her?

Kantra had led the ooman through the halls and rooms of the ship, trying to ignore the fact that every Yautja they passed had to stop and stare at the female as she trotted along behind him to keep up, her bare feet slapping against the smooth floor.

As they passed through one of the huge trophy rooms, he silently chided himself for not taking a route that would avoid this place. Seeing the skulls of so many of her fellow oomans adorning the high, polished black walls surely wasn't doing anything to alleviate her nervousness.

He could have kicked himself a few minutes later when, without realizing it, he'd taken her past one of the ship's three _kehrite_, in which several of the Young Bloods were having their daily sparring sessions.

Clearly, one of the Hunters they'd passed had spread the word around the ship, and now these youngsters wanted their own look at the ooman.

"Go back to your training; there is nothing for you out here." the Arbitrator growled, before any of them could even speak.

Bowing their heads quickly, one of them pushed his way to the front of the throng, having decided that he would serve as the speaker for the group.

"Honored Arbitrator, we were told that an ooman was seen aboard the ship." he said, trying to crane his neck to see around Kantra.

"You were told correctly. Now go back to your training." the older Yautja said, crossing his arms.

"With all due respect, we wish to see it, Arbitrator. As future members of the Thwei-Luar-ke Clan, we think that we should be allowed the chance to view our future prey." the Young Blood said.

"She is no prey of yours; nor will you be a member of this or any other Clan, if you continue to disobey me!"

"But, Arbitrator Kantra; what purpose have you in bringing this creature to the Clan's ship in the first place?" another one dared to inquire.

"She defeated one of the Exiled Bad Bloods; and my purpose in bringing her here is my own concern! Now, unless you wish me to deliver a beating to each and every one of you, you will all GO!" he roared, furious that he'd had to deliver the command a second, much less a third time.

Deciding that it would be better to obey him, they all slunk away back into the kehrite, some sulking as much as they thought they could get away with, leaving Kantra and the ooman Grey to continue their journey to the medical bay.

It took a while, but they finally arrived at the large entrance, and Kantra entered, followed by Grey, and the pair were immediately met by nearly all of the Healers in the Clan, who immediately began talking.

"Arbitrator, Elder Yeyinde informed us that you were bringing an _ooman_? Surely, I could not have heard him correctly…" the Senior Healer, Ha'kne, said, sounding confused, but any thought of a misunderstanding seemed to vanish when the group caught sight of the small creature standing behind Kantra.

"It _is_ an ooman!" a Junior healer said, sounding astounded, and reached out to touch her, making her jump back in fright.

"Yes, she is an ooman. I brought an ooman female aboard the Clan ship. Now that that has been established, I wish you to tend to her injuries. She has been running around one of the Bad Bloods' Hunting planets for a number of days, and she has suffered greatly during the ordeal." Kantra said.

The Healers all turned and talked quietly to each other for a moment, before turning back to the Arbitrator.

"We can examine her, and put her through the intensive scanner…but I do not know if we can be of much help to her." Ha'kne said, sounding unsure.

"You are the Senior Healer; surely you could-" Kantra began, but Ha'kne shook his head.

"Were she a Yautja, we would have little trouble in ascertaining her physical condition; but ooman physiology is…quite different in many ways. We have precious little knowledge of the ooman anatomy; or at least, how their bodies' systems work." Ha'kne explained.

"And we can't even communicate with her; how would we explain the procedures?" a Junior Healer added.

"I believe the Elder has asked Kwei to create some sort of translator…" Kantra said.

"Then that would help us somewhat; but until then, what would you have us do?" Ha'kne asked.

Kantra thought for awhile, as Grey occasionally peeked from around his back at the group of Healers, who seemed just as interested by her. Finally, he hit on an idea.

"Senior Healer, could your scanners at least give us an idea of what condition she is in?" he asked.

"Well, yes… If the traumas are abnormal enough… But without knowing what is considered normal for her kind, the subtler injuries may well go unnoticed."

"I see… Could you, then, do a chemical analysis? Perhaps you could discover which, if any, of our medicines would help her? And it is of great importance that you check what foods of ours she can safely eat. I am no Healer; but even I can tell that she suffers from malnourishment." Kantra said.

"Yes, we can do what you ask, Arbitrator… However, there is still the matter of gaining her cooperation. We could restrain her, of course; but I fear that it might result in further injury."

"I will go and see if Kwei has made any headway on the translator. Until then, I will have to leave her hear in Medical."

With this, Kantra turned to go, and Grey attempted to follow, but he, unsure of how to tell her to remain here, had to gesture, somewhat comically, for her to stay. A nervous look crossed her face, and she looked around at the Healers, who were deep in conversation again, and back, almost pleadingly, at him.

He wanted to tell her that he'd be back soon; but of course, was unable to articulate it properly, and so gestured for her to stay again, and left, feeling guilty at leaving her.

"_What the hell?!"_ Grey thought, as the large hunter left the room, leaving her alone with these strange alien doctors, who began to come slowly closer to her.

What was she supposed to do now? Why had he abandoned her here like this? Was he passing her off to them, now that he'd come back home? Although Grey hadn't known him for very long, she couldn't help but feel a distinct sense of betrayal at his leaving.

But any hurt feelings would have to wait; for the leader of the doctors (Grey assumed, because he wore a kind of insignia on his robe that the others didn't have), was making his way slowly toward her, his hands raised, palms out, to show that he meant no harm. What did they want?

Once he was close enough, he reached out and gently shook her shoulder-the one that wasn't burned-and waited for her to make the next move. Grey, now fairly sure that this was meant to be a friendly greeting in their culture, did the same, and the doctor seemed satisfied.

Looking over his shoulder, he said something to one of his colleagues, who hurried over to one of the machines against the wall, and began to press various buttons and look at several monitors. Grey heard a very soft humming, and a large panel on one wall slid open to reveal a small glass cubicle.

Putting a huge hand on her uninjured shoulder, the doctor led her over to this cubicle, and opened the door. Reaching inside, he adjusted something on a smaller panel, and water began to pour from the ceiling.

It was a shower!

Gesturing for her to get in, the head doctor checked that the water was right for her, and looked at her expectantly. Although Grey knew all too well that she must smell horrendous, she wasn't too keen on being naked with these guys in the room.

But the thought of being _clean_…really _clean_, for the first time in weeks…

Groaning, she nodded to him, showing that she'd comply with his request, but gestured for them to turn around, putting one arm over her chest, and the other over her lower parts to show that she wanted privacy while she stepped in.

The head doctor nodded, said something to the others, and they all turned their backs to her. Carefully, she removed the borrowed sheet and laid it on the floor, and then, with a rush of humiliation, took off her improvised underwear, making sure to put her black belt over her shoulders.

Slowly, she inched back into the cubicle, which, to her immense relief, was made of a kind of frosted glass, she supposed, that wouldn't allow the aliens on the other side to see everything, and closed the door.

The water felt _amazing_! At this point, Grey would have been grateful for a big bowl of cold water, as long as it was clean; but to have a _hot_ shower! Looking around, she saw that there was a neatly-folded washcloth on a small shelf near her, and on top of it, a small, reddish-brown cake of what she assumed must be soap. Not stopping to think if the soap might have caused some catastrophic allergic reaction, she took it and the rag and got to work.

At first, she was horrified by the disgusting brown color of the water that ran off her onto the shower's pristine white floor; but as she scrubbed, it gradually turned clear. The soap was doing a marvelous job of cutting through what had to have been an inch of dirt and filth, and she even ventured to wash her matted hair with it, grumbling in frustration at its condition. She even gave her belt a good scrub, watching with satisfaction as all the grime came off of it, and rung it out thoroughly to help it dry.

When she called that she was done, not knowing why she'd bothered, since it seemed these doctors couldn't speak English any more than Kantra could, one of them, keeping his eyes averted, handed her a huge towel, and she wrapped it around herself before stepping back out into the main area, feeling better than she had in a long time.

Once she'd come out, the doctors began clustering around her, until the head doctor barked something at the others, and they drew back a bit.

Reaching out, he took Grey by her uninjured shoulder and began leading her over to a table. Now that she was clean, she felt better, and more inclined to trust these aliens; though not implicitly, of course.

With some effort, she hopped up onto the table, and the head doctor took a corner of the towel she was wrapped in and tugged at it lightly, showing that he wanted her to remove it.

Grey shook her head, her face glowing with embarrassment. She'd been naked enough for today, thank you!

He tugged more insistently, however, and, looking around in mild frustration, gestured to her burn, and the dark bruises on her neck where the large hunter had grabbed her during her fight. He then made a show of looking her up and down, and shrugged. Grey had to ponder this for a moment, but then decided that, since he did seem to be a doctor, he wished to examine her injuries.

He sighed, and gestured past her to the table, attached to which were several thick leather straps, apparently for noncompliant patients, and his meaning was clear: _cooperate with us, or we'll have to restrain you._

Deciding that it was best to keep her dignity, even at the expense of her modesty, she slowly removed the towel and laid it on the table beside her, trying to cover herself as best she could.

Then the doctors got to work.

The head one did most of the actual examining, talking over his shoulder to the others, who Grey supposed were taking notes on what looked like the aliens' version of tablets, and occasionally nodding or checking with each other on this or that.

To Grey's immense relief, she found that they only appeared interested in her visible injuries, and didn't seem too interested in anything too invasive; although they were thorough.

Finally, it seemed as though they'd catalogued everything except her head, and the one in charge called to another, who soon returned with what Grey recognized as a pair of scissors.

"Oh, come on! No!" she protested, realizing that they were going to have to cut her hair to examine her head properly. Although she knew that she had some scrapes on her scalp-she'd felt the scabs in the shower-she didn't think that a full chop job was necessary; and God only knew what she'd end up looking like after they were done! It was a stupid thing to worry about in such a situation, she knew; but she'd always been so proud of her long, black hair…

But human vanity didn't seem to concern these aliens, and the boss doctor gave her a don't-be-silly look, before she gave up and let him go to work with his scissors.

Grey watched miserably as wads of thick black hair fell to the floor, soon obscuring much of the area around their feet.

"_Maybe it's for the best… I would have spent a month trying to get all those knots out…"_ she thought, as more of her hair joined the growing pile on the floor.

After a while, her "barber" seemed to have been satisfied that he'd sheared off enough hair to get a good look at her scalp, and examined her head, while the others made more notes on their tablets. Grey wished they'd done their "makeover" before she'd showered; she was itching like _crazy_ from all the hair!

These thoughts were put on hold, however, when one of the doctors approached her with what was unmistakably a large syringe. Grey's eyes widened in horror at the size of the needle, but before she could do anything, two of the other doctors took her by her arms and held her fast.

As she watched, terrified, the head doctor pushed the needle into her arm. It hurt as much as she'd expected it would, and tears began to well up in her eyes. What were they doing?

A few moments later, however, it became clear that they were, in fact, taking a sample of her blood. When the syringe was full, it was removed from Grey's arm, and the injection site was wiped clean with some kind of gauze. Grey felt resentful; but then again, there was no way they would have been able to explain to her what they were doing.

Seemingly satisfied with the blood sample, the head doctor handed it to a subordinate, who hurried back to another room, and didn't return. He then ushered Grey down from the table, across the room, and to a large machine against one wall.

This machine reminded Grey, vaguely, of the MRI machines she'd seen in one of those primetime medical dramas that some of the other girls in the group home enjoyed; though this one was, of course, much more advanced.

The doctor gestured for her to get up on the table and, knowing the drill by now, Grey acquiesced, still trying to keep her important bits covered as much as she could. One of the aliens then went over to a console and began pushing buttons and checking things on a monitor, and soon the table on which she lay began to move into the scanning tunnel.

She'd never been inside an MRI machine on Earth; but she had heard that one had to remain maddeningly still during the process, lest the entire thing had to be done all over again. She didn't want to provoke the ire of these aliens, nor did she want to remain, naked and helpless, for longer than need be, so concentrated with every fiber of her will not to move.

However, this technology didn't seem to take nearly as long as anything from Earth, and within a couple of minutes, it appeared as though the process was complete.

This was apparently very exciting-or at least interesting-to the group, who were all looking at their tablets and talking among themselves. The head doctor looked up at her and motioned that it was okay for her to get up now. He then gestured for her to remain there, and then he and the others went back to the other room, leaving Grey alone.

Kantra was in a truly foul temper by the time he arrived at the quartermaster's station.

He had been accosted by no less than ten other Hunters, all intent on knowing if he had indeed brought an ooman onto the ship, or if everyone had gotten hold of some unusually strong c'ntlip. A simple "yes" wouldn't satisfy them, however, and he ended up having to pray to the gods for the patience not to flush a few of them out the airlock.

He began to calm down a bit as he entered the large room, however, and was, as always awed by the sheer number and variety of spears, knives, wristblades, plasmacasters, masks, armor, and so forth that were on display; all of Kwei's design and making.

"I thought you'd be coming sooner, Kantra." a voice said, from the slightly smaller room behind a curtain, where Kwei fashioned his masterpieces. The quartermaster appeared a moment later, and went over to meet his new arrival.

Kwei was somewhat older than Kantra; though not as old as Elder Yeyinde. He was slightly shorter than the Arbitrator, a pale greyish-green, and had shoulder-length plaits that he usually kept tied up with a leather thong to keep them out of the way while he worked. The only thing that was remarkable about his physical appearance was the fact that his left leg, which had been amputated below the knee many years ago, had been replaced by a golden one of Kwei's own making, that functioned at least as well as his natural one used to.

He had been injured during a Hunt long ago and, rather than allow himself to be relegated to the status of a servant or crippled beggar in the bowels of the ship, as many had done before and would do after, he had learned the ways of weapon and armor crafting, and had become one of the most prominent names in the field. He was also considered something of an oddball, because he was always up to the task of crafting things other than weapons and armor; and he did love a challenge! He had friends everywhere, and nothing happened in the Yautja world-and sometimes, others-that Kwei didn't soon know about. It was for this reason, Kantra was sure, that Elder Yeyinde had given him the task of making a translator for the ooman.

"Were you watching on one of your monitors, Kwei?" the Arbitrator inquired, amused, as the older Yautja came to stand before him. It was a mark of his skill that his artificial leg didn't make a clanking sound as he walked…

"No; I could smell you as soon as you entered the room."

Of course; his musk had given him away. Yautja gave off a potent, bitter, oily-smelling musk when they were agitated, and with how Kantra had been fuming a few minutes before, it was surprising that the entire ship didn't smell foul from his musk. They also gave off a musk when they were afraid, and another when they were aroused; though the scent of arousal had dissipated when the mating season had ended and the females had left.

"It seems everyone on the ship knows about your "guest" by now, eh?" Kwei asked, smirking and leaning against a counter; though his artificial leg supported him well, it did ache from time to time, he'd said, and he needed to sit down frequently during these episodes.

"I swear, if I ever figure out who went and told everyone… Even the Young Bloods in the kehrite were informed!" Kantra vented.

"Well, you know the only thing that flies faster than our ships is our rumors, Kantra… Had Elder Yeyinde not informed me of it previously, I'd have thought everyone had gone mad. An ooman…on the Clan ship… Where is it, by the way?" he asked, looking around, as though Kantra were hiding her somewhere.

"The ooman is female. Her name is Grey, I believe; and she is being examined in the medical bay at the moment. Her injuries were somewhat concerning, you know."

"The Elder showed me the footage of her fight, and what led up to it; I believe you. Still, I need to see if this translator will work for her, and I can only do that with her input."

"Then, you managed to create one, Kwei?" Kantra asked, in almost childish excitement.

"Do you know," Kwei began, and Kantra prepared for a speech, "how many _languages_ are native to the oomans' planet? Do you know how many _words_ make up a language? And don't get me going on how many dialects those creatures have! How they manage to communicate with each other at all is a complete mystery to me!" he ranted.

"But, you did manage…?" Kantra hedged quietly.

"Yes, I managed it. Luckily for you, and the ooman, I have been tinkering with such a device off and on for several years. Well, not just me; but some of my likeminded colleagues in other Clans, and the Homeworld, as well. I had to reach out to nearly a dozen of them, including two Philosophers and an Archivist, and we had to pool all our information; but yes, we have created a translator. To be fair, it is a basic one; but it should serve your purposes for the time being. Actually, this endeavor seems to have kindled a kind of fire in all of us, and we've started talking about creating a new, more refined device in the future. I sharpen knives and calibrate gauntlets all day; this would be a welcome distraction, I admit." Kwei said, sounding determined, and pulled from a pocket of the thick leather apron he was wearing a pair of small devices, and handed them to Kantra.

"Two?" the Arbitrator inquired, looking at the small, flat rectangles with screens.

"So you don't have to keep passing it back and forth. I have programmed it with the entire Yautja language. The ooman's language is a very common one-they call it "English", I believe; and it was relatively easy to gain knowledge of it."

"Well, forgive my rudeness; but I must get back to the ooman. As I said, I left her with the Healers in Medical, and I do not wish to leave her alone longer than I must. She seems to have developed some trust in me, and I do not wish to undo whatever progress we have made. I thank you, sincerely, Kwei." he said, and bowed, before turning to leave.

"Didn't I say I wanted to see how the ooman takes to the translator? I'm coming with you!" Kwei huffed, and the two began heading back to Medical together.

It surprised many of the Yautja they met along the way to see Kwei out and about. He normally kept to himself in his station, creating and maintaining the ship's vast assortment of arms and armor, or else tinkering with his many "pet projects". Kantra had to slow his pace slightly in order to accommodate Kwei's leg, but other than that, the trip was uneventful, until the older male raised a question.

"So, what do you intend to do with the ooman?"

Kantra had to think on this; would it be wise to inform Kwei of his wild idea of having her trained to join the Clan? Yes; the quartermaster was many things, but wasn't one to go blurting things out all over the ship. And so, Kantra told him of his idea, and the older male listened carefully until he'd finished.

"Have you spoken to the Elder of this?" he asked.

"No… I only thought of it just before she and I disembarked from my ship. Perhaps it is foolish; but I think she could be a fine addition to the Clan…with some training, of course."

"And who would train her? Would you have her remain here, on the Clan ship?"

"Actually, I have thought about that… There is only one whom I would trust with teaching her…"

"You mean Ijane? Your mother?" Kwei asked.

Kantra felt a slight flutter in his chest at the sound of his mother's name; but he nodded.

"I assume, though, that you haven't told _her_ of this plan, either?"

"No…"

"And what if the ooman doesn't want to go along with your idea? What if she already has a family on her own world? Surely she wishes to return to them?"

"The Elder and I… We have not decided if we would allow this yet or not. With all that she has seen, it might give the ooman governments an advantage-albeit a slight one-over us. They are already aware of our existence, as you well know; we do not need to give them another clue. They were already made aware that the Bad Bloods were on their planet, you know. The fools were running about in broad daylight!" Kantra said, and Kwei's mandibles twitched as the smell of his musk reached him.

"They never seem to care about being seen, do they?" the older male asked, and both were quiet for awhile.

"You know, I don't know how much our Healers will be able to do for her." Kwei said, breaking the silence.

"Nor do I; but what else can we do?" Kantra asked, shaking his head.

"I was thinking about that, actually… I have heard that there is a Yautja on the Homeworld who has done research into the ooman anatomy. Why, I do not know; but it's said among my circles that he has more knowledge of their internal workings than all of our Healers put together. Most who know of his work believe that he is crazy; but I think the subject is simply interesting to him. Perhaps I could contact him? I think the opportunity to examine an actual ooman would be too great an opportunity for him to pass up."

Kantra nearly stumbled in his shock at hearing this.

"You would do this for me?" he stammered.

"I would. You are one of the few Yautja on this ship who treat me like more than just a servant. You vouched for me when I had my injury, when so many others thought I had outlived my use as a Hunter. You let me keep what honor I had left to me, and gain more with my craft. I am grateful, Arbitrator, to you and Elder Yeyinde for allowing me to remain here; I do this in thanks for your mercy." Kwei said seriously.

Kantra was taken aback by this showing of gratitude, and was about to speak, when a loud, Yautja howl of pain reached their ears.

It was coming from Medical, just down the corridor.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other copyrighted material. All I own are my original characters and story ideas.**

**Chapter 7**

Grey watched as the alien doctors, all talking amongst themselves, exited the room through a door at the back. No doubt they were going to discuss the results given out by that weird MRI machine-thing, leaving her here, alone.

She sighed as she looked around for the towel she'd been given when she'd stepped out of the shower, and saw it lying on the other table, just where it had been left.

Hopping down to the floor, she crossed the room, remembering how, when she'd cleaned herself in the shower, it seemed as though her period had stopped sometime that day; and she was grateful for it. One less thing to worry about.

"_And no more diaper…"_ she thought, flushing.

She was about halfway across the room, when the entrance door suddenly opened, and no less than six of the alien hunters entered, saw her standing there, and made a beeline for her.

Grey only had a second to register from their headbands that these were the same "students" from earlier; or, at least, they were students from the same class…or squad…platoon? Whatever these guys wanted to call their groups.

They surrounded her, looking her over, up and down, and talking to one another in their strange tongue. Then one of them reached out and took a lock of her hair, and _sniffed it_! Well, _inhaled_, actually; Grey had never noticed a nose on any of these things…

The others took their cue from the first, and soon each one was examining what hair remained on her head after the head doctor's first foray into human hairdressing. When they'd tired of this, the one who'd first touched her lifted one of her arms (which she'd been using to cover her breasts as best she could), and stretched it out, seemingly trying to see how her body worked.

Another one of them took her around the waist and lifted her up and down a few times, as though testing her weight, while yet another grabbed her leg and examined one of her feet while she was up in the air, which threatened to expose far more than she ever hoped to do for these things!

"Hands _off_, asshole!" she growled, and, gaining control of one of her arms, gave the one holding her foot a surprisingly powerful uppercut to the chin, considering what bad condition she was in.

This took him completely by surprise, and the others as well; for they all went quiet at once, and then burst into loud, raucous laugher, the one holding her by the waist let her drop nearly two feet to the floor, where she only just caught her balance…

…before the back of the alien's hand collided with her head.

"_D-did he just pimp-slap me?"_ she thought, far more outraged than hurt at this point; though she felt something wet running down her temple, and she could taste the blood oozing from an already-swelling upper lip. A look down at the floor confirmed it; several large crimson drops stood out against the off-white floor.

He didn't seem to be done, either.

Grabbing a large handful of her hair, he snapped her head back violently, making her look up into his face

"_Lou-dte kale! Pyode amedha!"_ he snarled, before slamming her into the floor. The others all roared with laughter, and appeared to be repeating the same words, roaring with laughter as they did so.

With them thus distracted, Grey took this opportunity to skitter across the floor and wedge herself underneath one of the machines against the wall. It was likely she wouldn't have fit under here a month or two ago; but the recent "crash diet" she'd been forced to go on had made her even smaller than she'd been before. Pressing herself as far back under the machine as she possibly could, she tried to think of what to do next.

The only thing would be to wait, and hope the doctors came back soon to rescue her. In the meantime, she could only pray that these jerks didn't manage to drag her out from her hiding place.

They finally seemed to have noticed that she was no longer among them, and she could see by their feet that they had split up to look for her.

It was her luck that the one who finally put his face down to examine the underside of the machine was the one she'd punched. His mean little eyes narrowed, and he growled something in his language that she was sure wasn't _"I'm so sorry. Let me help you up."_

He then reached underneath the machine, grabbing around for her, intending to drag her back out into the open for more abuse. Exactly what that would consist of, now that she'd hit him and, more importantly, embarrassed him in front of the others, she didn't know; nor did she want to find out!

"_Well, this worked once…sort of…"_ she thought, and as his hand came close enough, she sank her teeth into the alien's hand and bit down, hard.

This had the same effect as it had when she'd done it to the big hunter back in the clearing; only instead of another alien hitting her, the one onto which she now clung was thrashing his arm wildly in pain, roaring and trying to pull away.

Again and again, Grey's already-injured head collided with the underside of the machine, and against the wall. One of the blows caught her just right, knocking her half-silly; she just knew that she'd have a black eye from that one…

Finally, the hunter managed to shake her off, and as she recoiled further back into the darkness of her hiding place, she could see several droplets of brightly-glowing green blood. Now that she thought of it, she realized that there was an odd, coppery taste in her mouth. She'd broken the skin!

But now, with his hand free, and his rage at its fullest, it seemed it was time for the young hunter to start breaking some things of hers…

But before he could do anything more, Grey saw a new pair of feet, and then another, with one of them looking as though it were made of gold, and attached to a leg of the same metal.

Though she could only see the feet of the newcomers, she was able to hear the growls, snarls, roars, and finally, the ass-kicking that was taking place just outside of her hiding spot.

Finally, the hunter who'd been tormenting her fell to his knees, and then flat on his face, on the floor, and two of his cohorts took him by the arms and dragged him out of sight.

Grey then heard the soft whooshing of a door, and then many more feet appeared. There was more alien-talk, and then one of the new ones dropped to his hands and knees, and a familiar face came into view…

Kantra and Kwei had heard the howl of pain from the corridor and come running, only to find a strange scene unfolding before them.

Several of the Young Bloods whom Kantra had admonished earlier had apparently taken it upon themselves to search out the female, hoping to get their first look at an ooman, despite the orders of the Arbitrator.

Kantra didn't know exactly what had led up to this odd scene; but he guessed that these young fools had been pestering the ooman Grey, and she'd hidden herself under something to try and get away from them. The one now thrashing about had obviously reached under the scanning machine, hoping to grab her and drag her out, only for her to either stab or slash him with a scalpel or some other medical implement she'd been able to grab, or…

He thought back to the clearing, and the Bad Blood…

"Get it off! Get it off! It's biting me! This _lou-dte kale's_ biting me!" the Young Blood screamed, continuing to thrash about.

Finally, she either let go or he'd managed to shake her off, and he pulled his hand out from under the machine to reveal a good amount of bright-green _thwei_ seeping from an impressively-deep bite wound.

Kantra suddenly regained his senses, and walked over to the group, raised his hand, and backhanded the Young Blood so hard that the bleeding wound on his hand surely now felt like a playful pinch in comparison.

"A-Arbitrator Kantra…!" one of the others stammered, shocked by his superior's seeming appearance out of nowhere.

"You dare… You dare to disobey me… All of you… You came here against my explicit instructions…" he seethed, turning to the others, who shrank away from his rage.

"W-we just wanted to see the-" another one began, but a look from Kantra made him shut his mouth.

"What did you do to her? Do not lie…" he demanded, in a voice so dark and deadly that it was terrifying to the Young Bloods.

"As he said, we wanted to see the ooman…" a young male with waist-length plaits said, nodding at the one who'd previously spoken.

"And we were just looking at it! You said that it defeated a Bad Blood; but we didn't think it looked that impressive…" another chimed in.

"Then, you are calling me a liar?" Kantra asked, narrowing his eyes.

"N-no, Arbitrator! Of course not!" the Young Blood said quickly.

"It hit N'kta… It was quite amusing; it's such a small thing, after all…" the other said, nodding to the now-unconscious Young Blood, who was sprawled out on the floor.

"And he hit it back. Then it went under that scanner, so N'kta tried to get it out…"

"And it bit him! The little savage bit N'kta!" the one with long hair finished.

"N'kta injured her?" Kantra asked, concealing his slight panic. She'd been through enough already, without more injuries piled on top of those she already had.

"Apparently so, Arbitrator; look, on the floor…" Kwei said, gesturing to several small droplets of red ooman blood that formed a sort of trail that led underneath the machine.

"Luckily for him, he is already unconscious…" Kwei muttered, glad that he wasn't in N'kta's place, nor that of any of the Young Bloods, at the moment.

"But when he comes to, I will deal with him properly. As for the rest of you," Kantra growled, turning back to the group, who shrank back again, "you will be punished for this; and I do mean _severely_. Firstly, I will be informing the Elder of your little _sightseeing_ adventure. I will let him know that N'kta is the reason for the female's new injuries. Every one of you will wait one year before taking your _chiva_; and during that time, you will do every lowly job on this ship that I can think of! There will be more-much more-but at the moment, I fear I am too angry to think rationally. Go; before I give you the same as I gave N'kta. And rest assured, those of you whose fathers are aboard the ship; I will make sure to tell them about what happened here. NOW GO!" Kantra roared, and two of the Young Bloods carried the unconscious N'kta out of the room, with the others hurrying along behind. The entire room stank of their previous aggression; but now, the smell of their fear-musk intermingled with it.

Behind them, the door leading to the medical bay's other room slid open, and all of the Healers filed out, apparently having been alerted by Kantra's roar.

"Gods' sake! What's the meaning of all this noise?" Ha'kne demanded, looking around the room and frowning as he smelled the musk in the air.

"What's been going on here?" he asked again.

Kantra then filled him in on what the Young Bloods had done.

"You left her here alone, Ha'kne? I would have thought that you, with all of your experience, would know better." Kantra said, glaring at the Senior Healer.

"I… We managed to get her clean and examine her. We were able to get a blood sample for the chemical analysis you ordered… We were even able to get her to cooperate with us while we put her through the intensive full-body scanner… Afterwards, we went back to the laboratory to analyze the data we'd collected; I swear, we had no idea a group of Young Bloods were going to come in here to torment the female!" Ha'kne said, and Kantra could see that he was genuinely surprised by what he'd heard.

His anger abating, Kantra sighed and looked at the Senior Healer.

"Have you managed to find out anything?" he asked.

"Well, the analysis isn't complete yet; but it has come to light that a few of our medicines could be used to treat some of her injuries."

"But before you can treat her, I must get her out from under this machine…" Kantra said, with another sigh.

"Is that one of the ones that can be moved?" Kwei inquired.

"Unfortunately, no; we'll have to figure out some other way." Ha'kne said.

"I will do it. She is most familiar with me, and might be a bit more trusting of me than either of you. In the meantime, Kwei, tell Ha'kne about this Healer who is familiar with oomans. See if the two of you can convince him to come to the Clan ship, as quickly as he can." the Arbitrator instructed, and the Healer and the quartermaster left the room, leaving Kantra alone with the ooman.

"Kantra, this would be the perfect time to try that translator." Kwei advised him, poking his head back in the room.

"How do I use it?" the younger male asked, taking one of the small machines out of his waist pouch and examining it.

"Just tap the screen to activate it. Then you can type what you wish to say on the on-screen display, and send it to the other device. This is so you won't spend half the day passing a single one back and forth. There are options for Yautja and her language. It should be relatively simple to figure out from there." Kwei explained, and left again.

A little skeptical, Kantra activated both devices, switched his to Yautja, and hers to ooman, and slid it under the machine. He then typed on the onscreen keypad:

"**Come out. They are gone."**

Grey's relief at seeing Kantra turned into curiosity when what looked like a small tablet or large smartphone was slid underneath the machine, and a moment later, words appeared on the screen.

"**Come out. They are gone."**

"_What the actual fuck?"_ she thought, looking at the thing. On the screen was what looked like a standard Qwerty keyboard, the cursor blinking, ready for her to type.

Was this… Was this some kind of alien version of Google Translate or something? It was kind of like a tablet; but much thinner and more advanced than any tablet she'd ever seen.

Taking the thing in her hands, she was pleasantly surprised to find that it had some heft to it, so she didn't feel like she was using a cheap toy.

"**I'm coming out. Can you bring me the towel on the table over there?"** she typed, and sent the message.

His feet vanished, and a moment later, they returned, and the device beeped to let her know about an incoming message.

"**I have it."**

Grey then wriggled out from her hiding place, and took the towel and wrapped it around herself.

"**Thanks."** she typed, and Kantra nodded, before typing on his own tablet.

"**What happened?"**

She then typed out what had gone on while he'd been away, all the way up to his appearance back in the room. He listened patiently, and occasionally typed out questions, which she answered, happy beyond belief that they could now communicate.

"**The Healers will be back soon. They have run some tests to determine what they can do to help you, if anything. A friend of mine is contacting a Healer on my people's Homeworld who has great knowledge of your species' anatomy; with any luck, he will be here in a few days' time."**

Grey supposed "Healers" meant doctors, and he confirmed this.

"**But what happens after that?"** she typed.

"**Once your injuries are seen to, you will be taken to the Elder, to relate to him your experience with the Bad Bloods."**

"**The what?"**

"**Criminals among the Yautja. We call them "Bad Bloods". I am an Arbitrator. I Hunt down Bad Bloods."**

"What's a Yautja?" Grey asked aloud, forgetting to type.

Apparently, she hadn't pronounced it correctly, because the next few minutes were spent with Kantra teaching her the proper way to say the name of his people.

"**I am a Yautja; as are all those you see on this ship. We are an honorable people; we Hunt the most dangerous and challenging prey this universe has to offer."** he explained, and Grey noticed that he seemed to swell with pride.

"**Like me? Like the others who were with me?"** Grey typed.

"**We… We do Hunt your kind; that is true… However, the ones who took you from your home… They were Bad Bloods, as I have said."**

"**Do you hunt humans?"** she typed, though she was a bit afraid of finding out the answer to that question.

She didn't have a chance, though; the Healer and Kantra's friend reappeared and started speaking to him in Yautja, occasionally gesturing to Grey.

Finally, Kantra gave the tablet to the Yautja with the golden leg, who immediately began typing.

"**I am called Kwei. It was I who created the device you hold in your hands. How is it fairing for you?"**

"**It's working great, actually. It's kind of like some of the things we have on Earth."** Grey informed him.

"**That was intentional. I wanted to create something that would be familiar for you, and thus, easy for you to comprehend and use. There are not many among my kind who speak your tongue with any fluency; this device was a collaboration between myself and several others."**

"**Thank you. And thank the rest of them for me, please."**

Kwei seemed pleased by her answer, and handed the tablet back over to Kantra.

"**The Senior healer has told me that there are some medicines and treatments that can help with your injuries. Will you allow the Healers to help you?"**

"**Yes. This burn really hurts."** Grey typed, motioning with her head to the burn on her shoulder caused by the Yautja's gun.

With her consent thus given, she was directed to sit on a table, and several Healers gathered around her, each with a different medicine or instrument in his hands. The burn on her shoulder was coated in a thick brown paste that burned almost as much as the wound had done when she'd received it; but she was assured that it would heal the injury far quicker than anything human medicine had come up with. Another paste, this one a whitish color, was applied to the myriad of cuts, scrapes and insect bites that covered her body, and she was told that these, too, would heal quicker now. There was nothing to be done about the ugly bruises, except to wait for them to go away on their own. She wished she had something to hide the huge, purplish-black, hand-shaped one around her neck where the Bad Blood had grabbed her, but she'd just have to wait it out.

As it turned out, the Healers had sent al the data they'd collected on her so far to the one on their Homeworld who was more familiar with human biology. He'd responded by saying that it didn't look like she had any broken bones, and that she had, somehow, avoided any brain injuries from her fight with the Bad Bloods. However, since the Young Blood, whose name she found out was N'kta, had smacked her head against the underside of that machine while he was trying to shake her off him, she was put through the scanner again, and this new data was sent off to be analyzed as well.

About an hour later, the Healer on the Yautja's planet responded again, saying that she had miraculously sustained only minor injuries from this newest assault, and that he was setting off for Kantra's Clan ship at once. He also asked that Grey be kept from further harm until he was able to give her a thorough examination.

With the data they'd sent him, the Healer-whose name was Vi'ren-had been able to compile and send back a surprisingly long list of Yautja foods that Grey could eat. The prospect of having something in her stomach was almost too good to think of, and though she was a bit disappointed that she was only allowed to eat a bit at a time, so that her stomach, which had apparently shrunk because of her starvation over the past couple of weeks, could handle it, she was nonetheless grateful to have something in her belly.

The food they brought her consisted of some kind of seasoned meat, which tasted a little like beef, and a few pieces of a large fruit the Yautja called _naxa_, which tasted a little like an apricot or peach, but with a stronger flavor, and more fresh water.

With food in her stomach, and her injuries treated, Grey began to get a bit drowsy, and it was decided that she would stay in Kantra's quarters during her stay with the Thwei-Luar-ke Clan.

As Kantra led her through the corridors, word of his treatment of the Young Bloods who had disobeyed him seemed to have spread, and none dared bother him or impede his progress this time. Grey was grateful for this.

She was just thinking of how the others all seemed to revere-and some to fear-the Arbitrator, who Hunted criminals, when her tablet beeped, letting her know she had a message.

"**I have not."**

She gave him a puzzled look, and he quickly typed out an elaboration on his statement.

"**I have never Hunted your kind."**

This made her feel a little better, and she became a bit more at ease with the huge alien, even managing to ignore the stares and whispers of the others as they passed them.

Kantra's room was pretty big, though he told her that there were others that were three times this size when she expressed her thoughts.

"**The higher a Yautja's rank, the better the accommodations he is afforded. I choose to remain here so I can keep an eye on the others. They are far less likely to misbehave if an Arbitrator is near."** he explained.

Something had been bothering her for awhile, and his explanation brought it to the front of her mind.

"**Are there female Yautja?"** she inquired. So far, all the ones she'd seen were, as far as she could tell, males.

"**Of course. The majority of the females are back on the Homeworld, as are many of our older males, and the pups."**

"**The what?"**

"**Pups, or sucklings, if they are young enough. They are our offspring. The females live together in Clans of their own, and raise their children. When they are old enough, most of the males begin their training to become Hunters, and the females usually stay with their mothers, or sometimes go to the Clan of a female relative."**

"**Do female Yautja ever Hunt?"**

"**There are some who do; my mother, for example, was a fine and honorable Huntress. But enough explanation for now; I will prepare a bed for you."**

And he did.

Searching among the huge pile of cushions on the floor, he pulled one out and dragged it to the other side of the room, and then brought over a large, silky black animal pelt to serve as a cover.

As she crawled into this improvised bed and looked around the room-the dozens of knives, swords, masks, armor and, of course, bleached white skulls hanging on the walls-Grey's mind began to wander, as it always did before sleep, and several new questions popped into her head.

What was going to happen to her now? Were these Yautja-these Hunters of humans-going to keep her here forever?

This last thought was troubling. She wanted to go home; if for no other reason, than to see what had become of her sensei. What had become of him after she'd fallen unconscious back in the dojo? It was maddening not to know, and her dreams were troubled…


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other copyrighted or trademarked material. All I own are my original characters and story ideas.**

**Chapter 8**

It didn't take long for the ooman to fall asleep, and Kantra decided that, while she rested, he'd go and speak with the Elder regarding his idea of training her to join the Clan. He also wanted to discuss with him the results of that day's medical evaluation, the translator, and a few other things.

Quietly, he left the room and closed the door behind him, but he made sure he'd taken his translator, in case she woke up and wanted him, for some reason.

As he walked through the corridors to the upper decks, he thought back to Grey's question about whether or not he'd ever Hunted her kind. He had, of course, been truthful about never having done so; but he had left out the fact that he was thinking of making his own journey to her planet-she called it Earth-to see what the oomans had to offer by way of a good challenge. He thought it better, for the moment, that she not know this; she'd apparently begun to trust him somewhat, and he didn't think that such knowledge would do much to bolster that trust.

The guards in front of the Elder's door nodded in acknowledgement, and parted to let him pass. Elder Yeyinde had been expecting him, after all; though Kantra was sure he had been meant to come and see him as soon as he'd arrived back at the ship.

Closing the doors behind him, the Arbitrator looked around the room, impressed as always by all of the Elder's collected mementos of a lifetime of Hunting and traveling. Perhaps, one day, he might have a collection like this…

"You are a bit like a child, you know. Every time you come here, you are always fascinated by my collection; even though you have seen these things so many times." the Elder said, his voice making Kantra jump a little, and he felt his face burn slightly with shame at being surprised so easily.

"Forgive my delay in coming to see you, Elder; I had to take the ooman to the medical bay to have her injuries seen to." Kantra said, turning to face the Clan's leader.

Elder Yeyinde sat at his small table, on which, as usual, sat his _so-in_ board, along with all the little tiles and stones used to play the game. The older male waved the apology away, and motioned for the Arbitrator to sit on the cushion opposite him so they could talk better.

"How is she?" he asked, still concentrating on his game. Kantra had noticed that the older male often played this game when he had important matters weighing on his mind. He said that it helped him to clear his mind.

"Asleep, at the moment. She was given food and water, and allowed to clean herself, and she is now resting in my quarters."

"Kwei contacted me a little while ago. He said that the translator seemed to be quite successful. He is planning, I think, to refine it, and add some features that the female might find useful; though, knowing Kwei, I have no idea what those might be." the Elder said, sounding amused as he moved one of his tiles to the small pile beside the board, and put another one in its place.

"I also heard about the incident in Medical…" he said, more seriously, a minute later.

"I took care of it, Elder; those Young Bloods will think twice about disobeying their superiors again." Kantra assured him.

"I should hope so. Is the female injured? I mean, _seriously_ injured? From what Ha'kne told me, she left her own little _impression_ on N'kta…"

"She has some new bruises, especially on her face; but she will be fine, I think. The Healers had to re-scan her and send the new data to the Healer Vi'ren. He is the one who knows about ooman biology; I suppose Kwei told you of this, as well, Elder?"

"He did, and I sent word to the Homeworld that a fast ship should be made available for his use, so he might reach us as quickly as possible. If all goes well, he should be here in two days' time."

"And if it seems that she will recover fully, I had wondered if…" Kantra began, but wasn't sure how to voice his proposal without it seeming incredibly foolish.

"Yes?" Elder Yeyinde urged quietly.

"I just wondered… What is to become of her, after you speak with her? We have not discussed it, and the matter will have to be settled soon…"

The Elder sighed, put his tiles down, and looked seriously at the younger male.

"Honestly, I do not know. I tried to find an answer in the laws in the Archives; but since nothing like this has ever happened before…"

"I have heard that oomans have joined the Yautja in the past…"

"Yes, in the distant past; but not in a very long time has one been felt worthy enough to live among us. Even the ones who did were found to have shown extraordinary skill, or have saved or aided a Yautja in battle, and they came along willingly, as you know; this situation, however… It is unprecedented."

It was now or never, Kantra decided, and voiced his idea before he changed his mind.

"I had wondered if she might be trained, Elder… I thought that, with some proper training and education in our ways, she might be fit to join this Clan someday." he said, in one long breath.

This idea apparently startled the Elder, and he dropped the tile he had been picking up, staring at Kantra with a completely dumbfounded look. For a moment, Kantra feared that he would be reprimanded at the very least, if not laughed out of the room by the sheer absurdity of this notion, but…

"Training her… Training her as a Yautja would be trained… Interesting…" he mused.

"You have seen the footage I sent you, yes? She is a capable fighter, for her size. She could bring great honor and credit to the Clan, were she trained properly." Kantra said.

"She is not without skill, I must admit; but who would train her? You are called away for your duties as Arbitrator far too often for you to take on an apprentice to train; and after what happened in Medical, I doubt any of the current group of Young Bloods would make her life on the ship easier; not that I can guarantee any of the Blooded Hunters here would even consent to teach her."

"I thought that, perhaps, my mother might be up to the task. The last time I spoke with her, she was training my younger cousin, Nanku, back on the Homeworld." Kantra trailed off, looking off to the side, a bit uncomfortably.

"Lady Ijane? Now that would be something, I must say! She was quite a skilled warrior, in her day."

"She has lost none of her edge in battle, I assure you. She trained me, in combat and weapons, all my life; but she will not be too harsh with the female, either. I hear her kind can be somewhat emotional at times, you know."

"I have heard this, as well; but I have never had much opportunity to observe the female oomans. But we are getting far ahead of ourselves! What if the female does not wish to join us? What if she wishes to return home? Will you honor her request?" Elder Yeyinde inquired.

Kantra thought for a moment, and then sighed.

"I… I will. She has earned the right to return to her people, if she wishes it. It would be dishonorable to keep her here against her will; nor would it be proper to Hunt her. Once her injuries heal, I shall ask her what she wants to do." Kantra said.

"Then that matter is settled. Tell me, how did your fight with the Bad Bloods turn out?"

"You saw the footage, Elder. I eliminated the remaining two, with surprisingly little effort. I do not believe that they were very experienced. I think, perhaps, that the one the ooman killed was an older one, taking the other two on a Hunt, or their version of one, anyway." Kantra finished scornfully.

"And did your investigation turn up anything new?"

"Not really. They went to the oomans' planet, took a few, and brought them back to Hunt them on their own private world. Aside from the commotion they caused among the oomans, it was fairly routine, for them…" the Arbitrator admitted.

"Well, I suppose it was likely the younger two who caused the ruckus; I daresay that an older Yautja, even a Bad Blood, would have better sense than to rile up the locals like that."

"One would think, Elder; but with them, who can say why they do anything they do."

"True enough. So, will you contact your mother regarding the female, or will you wait until she has reached her decision about whether to stay?" Elder Yeyinde asked.

"I do not know. If I contact her, and she says yes, and the female wishes to leave, then my mother will have made preparations for nothing, and I do not wish to waste her time. If I ask now, and she says no, and the female chooses to stay, then I do not know what we can do with her. Really, there are almost too many problems to name…" Kantra said, with a sigh.

"Speaking of names," the older male said, suddenly looking up, "have you found out what name the female goes by?"

"Elder?"

"If she does end up staying, I would expect that we should refer to her as something other than "the ooman" or "the female", should we not?"

This seemed like a sensible suggestion to Kantra, who nodded, and replied:

"She told me that she is called "Grey"."

"Grey? A bit of an odd name… Still, she might feel more comfortable if we start using her actual name. Now, you should get back to your quarters before…Grey…wakes up to find you gone. I have to contact the crafters on the Homeworld and tell them that I do not need fifteen sets of basic armor, after all, now that the _chiva_ will be delayed a year." Elder Yeyinde said, smirking at Kantra.

"Do you think it was an error, my holding back their Trial?" the younger male asked. Despite the fact that he was technically on the same tier, rank-wise, as the Elder, Kantra still respected his opinion immensely.

"No, I do not. They should have thought about their Trial before they disobeyed you. I will respect your judgment in this matter."

"Thank you, Elder Yeyinde. A few Hunters have already told me that they felt my decision too harsh, and I had, admittedly, begun to doubt… Regardless, I must get back to the-I mean, Grey-before she wakes, as you said. Excuse me."

With this, he bowed respectfully and left the Elder's quarters.

When he arrived at his quarters, he found none other than N'kta, a massive bruise on one side of his face, his bitten hand bandaged, waiting outside.

"What is it, Young Blood? Have you come here to try and worm your way out of your punishment?" Kantra asked, crossing his arms and glaring at the younger male.

"I… I would not say that, exactly, Arbitrator… I came here… I came here on behalf of myself and the others… We accept that we must be punished, and we accept our punishment; but please, do not make us wait another season for our Trial!" he implored.

"If you accept your punishment, then that means _all_ of your punishment, N'kta." Kantra said, opening the door and going inside.

Whether N'kta thought that this had been an invitation into the Arbitrator's private quarters, or he'd simply been bold or desperate enough to come inside, Kantra didn't know.

"But our _Trial_, Arbitrator! We will be held as Young Bloods for another year! Surely what we…what I did…does not merit such a sentence?"

"You disobeyed me, N'kta. You injured Grey-"

"_Who_, Arbitrator?" the Young Blood asked, his head cocked slightly in confusion.

"The ooman, N'kta; her name is Grey. You accosted her, and when she fought back, and from what I was told, she had every right to do so, you injured her, and chased her, intending to cause more torment-"

"She bit me!" he retorted, rather loudly.

At that moment, the door to the washroom opened, and Grey, who had apparently been making use of the room, walked out, regarded the two through half-closed eyes, yawned broadly, and lay back down on her cushion, covering herself with the black fur pelt. Upon seeing her, N'kta let out an audible growl, his mandibles flaring menacingly in his rage, and Kantra saw his fists ball up at his sides as he glared hatefully at the small, indistinct lump underneath the thick pelt.

"_Lou-dte kale…"_ he growled lowly, still glaring.

"Do not call her that within my hearing again, N'kta. I watched her kill one of the Exiled Bad Bloods with nothing but a rusted blade; she has earned my respect. You, on the other hand, are only serving to earn my contempt at the moment."

"Arbitrator, I-" the younger one began, but Kantra cut him off. He had long since tired of this conversation, and the one who'd initiated it.

"Do not interrupt me, N'kta. Ever. What you did was a shameful display of your youthful hotheadedness. What concerns me is that the offenses you and the others have committed are the kind often indulged in by Bad Bloods."

"I am no Bad Blood, Arbitrator!" N'kta snapped, his mandibles flaring again at the perceived insult, even from one with a rank so high above his own.

"You will watch your tone, N'kta, lest I be forced to assert my authority and silence you forever. I did not say you were Bad Bloods; only that your actions were reminiscent. You know, as does everyone, my feelings on Bad Bloods; I will show you no mercy, Young Blood, if I feel you have decided to walk that Path. Now leave; I have matters to tend to that are far more important than you." Kantra said and, thus dismissed, N'kta bowed and left the room, making the smartest decision he'd made that day by deciding not to press his luck further, but leaving the slight smell of aggression lingering in the air.

Kantra sighed as he went over to his own bed and made himself comfortable. He hadn't slept much since he'd set out from here nearly five days ago, and he needed the rest. Glancing over in the direction of Grey's cushion, he saw that she hadn't moved, but his excellent hearing could pick up her rhythmic breathing coming from underneath her cover.

"_She can sleep through anything…"_ he mused, as he began to drift off.

**O**

Grey awoke sometime later, and looked around the room to see that Kantra had left her again. Rolling over, she thought back to the scene she'd witnessed while coming out of the bathroom.

"_That one-N'kta, I think-did __**not**__ look happy to see me…"_ she thought, shuddering slightly as she remembered the death glare he'd given her.

She had a feeling that, sooner or later, he was going to make more trouble for her.

She put those thoughts aside, however, when Kantra returned, holding a large platter of food, two jugs, one of which was quite small, like a _tokkuri_, and three small clay bowls. He sat all of this on the table in one corner of the room and, upon seeing that she was awake, took the translator tablet from the pouch on his belt. Grey retrieved her own tablet, which she'd stowed safely beside where she'd been sleeping on the bed, and waited for him to "speak" first.

"**You have slept for quite a long time. Are you hungry again?"**

Grey's stomach growled as the smell of the food, which must have been recently prepared, wafted over to her, and she nodded, before getting up and joining him at the table.

"**Vi'ren sent instructions that all of your meat should be cooked thoroughly before you eat it."** he typed, putting a few pieces of meat on a smaller plate and handing it to her. The others, she saw, looked completely raw and bloody, and she felt slightly squeamish as she watched Kantra's face light up with relish as his sharp teeth bit into the flesh.

"_Note to self: never get bitten by a Yautja."_ she thought, as he used his mandibles to help him tear off a large piece.

He poured water for her, and then something purplish and slightly thick-looking from another jug, shuddering as he downed the small bowl in one swallow.

"**C'ntlip. It is a brew that makes the drinker more at ease, if drunk in moderation."**

Upon reading this, Grey supposed this purple concoction was the Yautja version of alcohol, and when the smell reached her, this theory was confirmed.

As she watched him drink, Grey was strongly reminded of how her sensei had described the rituals and traditions surrounding sake-drinking in Japan.

"**On Earth, there's a beverage called "sake". Humans drink it in kind of the same way you drink your brew."** she typed, and ate a piece of meat, which had cooled down to a point where it could be safely handled.

"**Oh?"** he responded, seeming interested by this fact.

She then began to tell him about the various traditions, etiquette and superstitions surrounding sake in Japan, and was surprised to find that the Yautja, too, drank this beverage warm or cooled, depending on the drinker's preference, and chased it with a drink of water.

She had to decline, however, when he offered to pour her a bowl of the drink.

"**Sorry, but I think it's probably too strong for me."** she apologized, and, after a moment's thought, he seemed to agree, and nodded. The stuff smelled _way_ stronger than the cheap tequila that her caretaker's daughter sometimes obtained and smuggled into the house.

"**How do you know all these things, if you do not drink?"** Kantra inquired, putting a cork on the small bottle and switching to plain water.

"**My sensei told me. He likes to tell me stories about Japan-his home country-and about him growing up there."** she typed, and gathered the dishes onto the now-empty platter, setting them neatly in a stack on the table.

"**The one who gave you the belt?" **Kantra asked, nodding to the thing, which Grey was now wearing around her waist to help hold up her makeshift dress.

"**Yeah, it was his first-"** she stopped typing, and looked up at him slowly. His face had gone blank, his eyes wide, and he seemed to be thinking about something that made him uncomfortable.

"**How did you know about that?"** she typed, but had to fix several mistakes, as her fingers were trembling a little.

He just stared at her, and she stared back at him, waiting for an answer…

**O**

Kantra stared at the ooman, horrified at what he'd just said, as the realization washed over him like an ice-cold wave.

"_She does not know…"_ he thought, looking at her perplexed face, not beginning to know how to tell her the truth.

He had watched on his ship's monitors as her teacher had presented her with the belt, had stepped in to defend her as she'd collapsed when the Bad Blood had drugged her, and how the one behind him had impaled him through the chest with its oversized wristblades. Just moments ago, she'd been happily explaining that her instructor had told her things about his own land, talking as though the older male were still alive, and waiting for her back on her own world; but now…

"_Damn…"_ he thought, still looking at her, then beginning to type on his tablet.

Their talk had been going so well, too…

"**There is something that I think you should see, Grey."**

She looked puzzled as he rose from the table and typed on a keypad on the wall, whereby a section opened up, revealing a large monitor. He then sent for the data and footage of her capture from the ship, and looked through the files for the right one. When he found it, he let the event play out for Grey, stepping back, not wanting to watch her face as she saw what had become of her teacher.

Kantra knew when it was over, because Grey had collapsed to the floor in a sobbing heap, holding her hands to her head and muttering to herself.

When he finally stepped forward to put a hand on her shoulder, the only comfort that he could offer, she looked up at him, and he could see that her face wore a look of utter despair and confusion that made his breath catch in his throat.

Tears flowed freely from her grey eyes, and her odd ooman lips were trembling as she looked up at him, her hands now in her lap, twisting the ends of the belt almost compulsively. He could tell that, for the moment, at least, the sudden shock and grief had rendered her completely helpless.

**O**

She remained like that for the next two days.

Grey didn't feel like eating, drinking or showering. Were it not for the dread of actually soiling herself, she wouldn't have gotten out of bed at all.

She had watched as the person-the only person-that had ever shown her any genuine affection had been killed, with her only a few feet away.

She lay there in the fetal position, underneath the heavy fur pelt, in the darkness it provided, replaying the death of her beloved teacher over and over again.

Kantra had tried several times to get her to eat and drink, but she simply shook her head and shrank back underneath the cover, to cry again.

"**Please, just leave me alone."** she typed, the third time he'd tried to coax her into eating, and she heard him sigh heavily and walk away.

**O**

Kantra watched the lump underneath the fur for any sign of movement; but it seemed like the only time she stirred was when she trudged off to make use of the washroom. She was refusing food and drink, which both Ha'kne and Vi'ren had told him she needed badly, if she were ever to fully regain her health.

"What should I do, Elder? I… I fear she may die from this…" he confessed, on the second day, as he paced back and forth in the Elder's chamber. He'd come to see him, seeking his advice on the subject of what to do for the female, if indeed anything could be done.

"Ha'kne has suggested that, should she continue to refuse food, she might need to be restrained and fed intravenously. I would rather not have to resort to such a method, if I do not have to, but she may leave us no choice." he continued.

"She is young. I think that she will pull through this, in her own time." the Elder said.

"But in the meantime?" Kantra asked.

"Just let her _grieve_, Kantra. Let the shock wear off a bit, and she can begin to gather her thoughts and decide what to do next. By all means, watch over her; but let her _grieve_."

The younger Yautja felt a bit awkward, hearing such sentimental things uttered by another of his kind; they were not generally the most demonstrative of beings, after all. However, Yautja of his age have lived through enough triumphs and tragedies to understand such things far better than one as young as he. They had a level of insight and compassion that many younger Hunters lacked; and it appeared that that compassion was what was needed now.

"_Compassion is __**not**__ weakness."_ the Elder had told his group, during one of their training sessions so long ago. Well, the older male had never steered him wrong so far…

**O**

Grey had been dreaming of her teacher again; it had been one about a training session they'd had a couple of years ago.

She'd been practicing a new move, but kept falling on her ass when she couldn't keep her balance.

"_Get up, Tsuki-chan."_ he'd said, every time she'd landed on the blue-matted dojo floor.

He'd worked with her for three days straight, until at last she'd gotten the move right. Now she could perform that move in her sleep, almost.

"_You see? You just had to keep trying. Now, get up, and show me again."_ he'd said, when she'd demonstrated the move for him, then flopped down onto the mat, smiling broadly.

"_Get up…"_

"_He wouldn't want this… He wouldn't want me to lie here forever…"_ she thought.

But now, he wasn't there to tell her what he'd want. He'd never tell her anything again…

"_Get up…"_

"_I can't just lie here until I starve…"_

But what else could she do? Without him, there was nothing left for her to go back to…

"_Get up…"_

"_I knew it all along. He wouldn't have run off and left me, and they wouldn't have just let him go. I always knew it; I just didn't want to think about it."_ she realized, miserably.

Off to one side, she heard the door open, and the now-familiar sound of Kantra's clawed feet on the metal floor. He was probably coming to try to get her to eat again.

She waited a few minutes, and heard him lie on his own bed without coming over to shake her and offer her food, as he'd been doing since she'd crawled into bed two days ago.

Grey sighed and stared into the darkness underneath the fur. She just kept going over and over the same thought in her head, that her sensei was gone, and that she'd never talk to him again, never train with him again…

"_Get up…"_

The dream came back to her again, the words echoing inside her head, and she reached down to touch the belt still around her waist.

His last gift.

This brought a lump to her throat, and a tightness to her chest, and she felt the tears spill onto her cheeks again. He'd given it to her because she'd been his prized student…

…who was lying here, hungry, stinking and crying. How pathetic.

"_Get up…"_

Taking a deep breath in the hot darkness, she began to gather her thoughts, wiping the tears and snot away with the back of her hand as she did so.

He was gone. There was no point in sugarcoating that part of it. He was gone, and she missed him. She missed him so, _so_ much…

But missing him wasn't gong to bring him back. Nothing could bring people back; she'd had to make her peace with that a long time ago.

That had been when she'd found out about her mother dying, when she'd been about three. She'd cried for a long time, but she'd managed, somehow, to make peace with it. It still hurt; but she was able to live with it now.

Maybe, then, she could do it again.

"_Get up… Get up, Tsuki-chan…"_

Taking a deep breath, she stretched out, sat up, and pushed the cover back off of her.

She had to get up; she had to start moving forward. There was nothing else to do now, but go forward…

But there were some things she needed to know first.

She reached for her tablet…

**O**

It made Kantra jump when his translator let him know that Grey was sending him a message.

He'd been lying in bed, arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling and thinking of the Elder's words.

"Just let her grieve."

He was a wise old Yautja, the Elder Yeyinde; and Kantra decided that he'd follow his advice, and leave the ooman alone for the time being.

The tablet beside him suddenly beeped, and he looked up to see Grey, sitting up in bed with her own device in her hands, looking intently at him, her eyes puffy from crying, her remaining hair almost as matted as it had been when she'd first come here.

"**Why did they kill him?"** she had asked.

"**They had not come for him."** he replied.

"**They wanted me? Why?"**

"**Their logs say that they felt that a female might add some tension among your group. Some might wish to protect you, and others would… They would want you…for themselves…"** he explained, feeling awkward.

**"How did they find me? Out of all the people in the city, on the planet, why me?"**

To answer this, he got up and went to the monitor, then brought out the footage of the Bad Bloods' first sighting of Grey.

"**That was the Intercity Karate Semifinals; we came in first in that competition.**" she observed.

"**It was the first time they saw you. It seems they were impressed.**" Kantra typed, and then showed her the logs of them tailing her at what Kantra assumed was her home, and at the place with all the other oomans who dressed alike.

"**They were at my house?"** she seemed horrified.

"**They did no harm to your mother and siblings."** Kantra assured her, and she gave him an odd look.

"**Emilia isn't my mother; she's the woman who runs the group home."**

"**Group home?"**

**Never mind. But why me? There were others at the competition; why did they want me, specifically?"**

"**Generally, we-Yautja, I mean-choose prey who are a challenge; who could kill us, given the right opportunity and motivation. It makes the Hunt more satisfying; but we are honor-bound to keep things fair. Ordinarily, females would not be considered as worthy; but the Bad Bloods, as I have mentioned, have thrown away their honor, in pursuit of their own kind of "fun". As for why they took you; my guess is that you were the easiest one among your peers to acquire."**

"**You mean it was just random? They were just walking around the city and saw me, and decided to take me because it wasn't too much of a bother?"**

Kantra wouldn't have put things quite as simply; but he shrugged and nodded.

"**Will others come after me, if I go back home?"** she asked, suddenly looking worried.

"**I doubt it. Even Bad Bloods do not avenge their fallen, normally."**

"**But if I go home, I'll know about you, about the Yautja. Everywhere I go, I'm going to feel like I'm being watched, and Hunted again."**

"**As a female, it is unlikely you would be chosen for that purpose."** Kantra repeated, wanting to alleviate her fears.

"**You mean, unless I act too feisty in public? Then I guess all bets are off?"**

He didn't know what this last part meant, but he didn't have time to answer, anyway, because she was already typing something else.

"**Did he suffer? My sensei, I mean."**

This question, he could answer, with a great deal of certainty.

"**His death would have been very quick. If he did feel any pain, it did not last long."**

"They didn't make him into a trophy, did they?" the way she looked at him when she typed this was pitiful.

"**No. You were the last one they took, I think; their antics while on your world aroused the attention of the local authorities, and then surely your government would have become involved, which would have made things more difficult for them. They left almost as soon as they took you."**

Her eyes widened at this, and she hurriedly asked:

"**Does the government know about the Yautja?"**

"**Some factions within the ooman governments and military know of, or suspect, our existence. Of course, they cannot predict with any certainty where we will Hunt, because different Clans stake claims to different areas at different times. However, they know what to look for to determine if a Yautja is Hunting in certain places, especially large cities in places where word can spread quickly."**

She came over and sank onto his bed, putting her head in her hands, deep in thought.

Kantra was beginning to think that, perhaps, he had said too much and upset her further, when his wrist gauntlet projected a large, holographic screen, across which Yautja text scrolled.

"**The Healer Vi'ren has just arrived from the Homeworld. He is heading to Medical now, and he wishes us to meet him there."** he informed her.

She made no protest, only nodded, sighed, and followed him obediently as he walked out of the room.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other copyrighted or trademarked material. All I own are my original characters and story ideas.**

**Please enjoy!**

**Chapter 9**

Grey followed Kantra through the corridors, not even bothering to look at the other Yautja she passed along the way. She was still thoroughly depressed and heartbroken about her sensei's death, and at this point, didn't much care about anything anymore.

But what Kantra had told her, about the government knowing about the existence of the Yautja did give her some cause for concern, and she ruminated on these concerns as she was led back to the medical bay.

Once they were inside, Grey saw that the Senior Healer, Ha'kne was there, along with a few others. She wasn't sure if they were the same ones, however, because she hadn't spent enough time with them to distinguish them from the other Yautja.

But standing next to Ha'kne was a Yautja that Grey had never seen, and she didn't think she'd have forgotten him in a hurry if she had.

He was slightly taller than the Senior Healer, a pale greenish-brown color with dark brown mottling on his skin. His dreadlocks-at least, that's what they looked like to Grey-were, like Kwei's, tied into a loose ponytail that hung down his back, and he was wearing a brown leather vest and a pair what looked to Grey like _hakama_ pants. He was the first Yautja she'd seen wearing pants, she realized.

This new one came over to Kantra and began speaking with him, occasionally looking at a tablet in his hands or gesturing to Grey, who felt a little awkward. She just wanted peace and quiet right now, not to be made a spectacle of.

Again.

Finally, the new Yautja was handed the translator tablet by Kantra, and Grey took hers out, willing to endure his questions or whatever, as long as it would get her back to Kantra's quiet quarters faster.

"**I am known as Vi'ren. I am a Healer of Yautja, but I also have an extensive knowledge of the ooman anatomy. If you will permit it, I would like to examine you, ooman Grey."** he announced, and though he wasn't actually talking aloud, Grey imagined that he was one of those people who had a kind of self-important tone to their voice, like everything they said was a proclamation or something.

"**All right."** she consented, too depressed to really care at this point.

This was all he needed, and he motioned for her to get up on the examination table, where he began looking at her burned shoulder and the bruises on her neck, as well as the ones on her face from where she'd been smacked around by N'kta the other day.

"**The burns and bruising to your neck were sustained during your altercation with the Bad Bloods, were they not?"** Vi'ren queried.

"**Yes."**

"**The burn is healing nicely; but these bruises will take some time to go away. Your scans did not show any significant brain damage; you are very lucky. You did hit that tree quite hard, you know."**

Grey's head jerked up.

"**How did you know I hit a tree?"** she typed.

"**Arbitrator Kantra sent me the footage of your fight with the Bad Bloods."** the Healer informed her, giving her a _"you didn't know?"_ sort of look.

Grey's face turned red, now that she knew that this Yautja, too, had seen her naked. He didn't seem too perturbed by her embarrassment, however, especially when he next typed:

"**I will need you to remove your covering, so I might examine you more thoroughly."**

"_No!_" she said, pulling the sheet closer about herself, and making the Yautja around her start slightly at the sudden outburst. Vi'ren did appear to appreciate her embarrassment this time, however.

"**I assure you, Grey, that you have nothing to fear from any of us. We Yautja have no sexual interest in your kind."**

Grey didn't know if that made her feel better or slightly insulted; but she was pretty sure that she wasn't going to be thrown across the table and violated by these guys, so she sighed and undid the sheet, not meeting the gaze of any of them as she did so.

For the next twenty minutes, Grey was minutely examined by the alien doctor, who occasionally made curious clicking noises, and checked this or that on his tablet, and asked her questions. He didn't do anything that gave off a pervy vibe, and was, on the whole, very professional as he went about his work. Plus, she did feel a lot safer with Kantra there, though he kept his eyes averted during the process.

At last, he handed her the sheet back, and turned to talk to Kantra.

She didn't know what he'd told the Arbitrator, but he suddenly began acting very oddly. He looked from Vi'ren to Grey, gestured to her, and then, taking the tablet from the confused-looking Healer, began frantically typing.

"**You are just a pup!"**

It took a minute for her to remember that for Yautja, a "pup" was a child.

"**I'm fifteen. You didn't know?"** she replied, astounded that it had taken him this long to figure out that she was a teenager.

Kantra shook his head, still gazing at her with that shocked expression.

Grey almost wanted to laugh, but seeing his discomfort and confusion, she began to see that, given the fact that she'd been completely naked when they'd met, and when he'd brought her on his ship, this situation must have been making him unbelievably uncomfortable.

"**I honestly thought you knew."** she told him, and Vi'ren took the tablet and began to type.

"**To be honest, most Yautja couldn't tell a male ooman from a female, unless they were standing naked before them; the fact that the Arbitrator did not know your age is not surprising."**

But it probably didn't stop Kantra from feeling like the galaxy's biggest pervert right now, Grey reasoned, looking at him leaning against the table, trying to regain his composure.

The rest of Vi'ren's visit was uneventful. He took another blood sample, and personally performed another scan of her body, explaining to the Healers how to alter the machine's settings to better accommodate a human, and promised that a comprehensive list of medicines, procedures and human-safe food and drinks would be sent to them as soon as he'd evaluated the data. Before he took his leave, though, Grey had a question.

"**How did you learn all this about humans? Are you a Hunter, too?"**

"**I was, before I became a Healer. Your species fascinated me, and I wanted to learn more about your kind's physiology. As for how I learned: I hacked into a number of ooman computer systems in your hospitals and other medical institutions, including several of your medical schools. I have spent years learning, but your arrival has presented me with an opportunity that I could not pass up. I thank you, Grey."**

With this, he bowed, handed the tablet back to Kantra, who was still visibly upset, and took his leave. She and Kantra then walked back to his quarters.

**O**

As Kantra had led Grey to back to his quarters, he thought back to Vi'ren's examination, and all that he'd learned that day.

Firstly, he'd discovered, after telling the Healer about what he'd thought had been some kind of internal trauma sustained in her fight, that Grey had been experiencing the oomans' version of estrus.

"Well, to be more precise, her estrus has ended, and her body is ridding itself of the unfertilized egg so that it may prepare for the next cycle. Ooman females do not have a breeding season, as Yautja do; they are fertile year-round." he'd explained.

Kantra had been a bit uncomfortable upon learning this, but decided to say nothing.

Vi'ren then began discussing Grey's head scan.

"The cranial sutures haven't fused yet… Interesting… It would mean she… But then, I thought as much when I saw her in the footage…" he muttered.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Kantra had asked, hoping that there wasn't some kind of problem.

"I was just observing the female's scans. Do you see this, right here? This is where the bones of the skull fuse together in adulthood. Grey's are still not completely fused."

"Wh-what are you saying?" the Arbitrator asked, confused.

"This ooman is less than twenty years old, Arbitrator. In fact, I'd put her age at about fourteen or fifteen; no more than that, I think." the Healer had said, in a matter-of-fact tone.

A _pup_! She was a _pup_!

Kantra was horrified at this revelation. That the Bad Bloods had taken one so young…

But then, it made sense, thinking back…

She had been living with an older female, not her mother, but one who did take care of her and those of similar ages. The others he'd seen, the ones all wearing the same clothing, were ooman _children_ attending the same learning establishment, as he'd heard their kind did. When he'd watched her get her belt, the others had all filed out with the oomans who'd been sitting along the sidelines; they were the families of the _children_ in that class!

"**I'm fifteen. You didn't know?"** she had asked, when he'd confronted her about this, and almost looked as though she were about to laugh.

Kantra, however, found nothing funny about this situation; especially the fact that he had seen her completely nude…

He felt like vomiting.

As he sank onto his bed, and she went into the washroom, he decided that he'd have to tell the Elder about this newest development, though he was deeply ashamed to do so.

While he was waiting on the Elder's reply, Grey poked her head out of the washroom and motioned for him to come over.

Feeling more than a little uncomfortable, he went to see what she wanted.

Kantra was glad to see that she was still wearing her sheet, and when he stood before her, she bgan typing on her tablet.

"**Can you teach me how to use this shower? I haven't bathed in two days."**

Still a bit dazed, he nodded and showed her how to activate and adjust the water temperature of the shower, and hurried out before she began to get undressed.

"_A pup… Not even old enough to leave her mother's home…"_ he thought, listening to the sound of the running water.

And what of her parents? Surely, at the age of fifteen, Grey was under the care of an older ooman? Had they gone out, frantically looking for their child, only to find nothing that could point them to her location? Did they think her dead, or lost forever? She hadn't mentioned a mother, save to say that the plump female who'd called to her in the logs wasn't hers…

Even if she were under the care of a completely unrelated female, the Honor Code forbade the Yautja from interfering with the pups of other species; whether that meant killing them or otherwise. In this case, it would be unlawful for Kantra to keep her here, if she had a home to return to.

Well, there went his brilliant plan…

"**Will you please bring me another sheet?"** she requested, and Kantra did as she asked.

A few minutes later, she reappeared in the room, smoothing the wrinkles out of her new "dress", and sat on her bed. Now that he looked at her, he could see it; she really was only a child, lost and alone.

He didn't have time to think any further, however, for his wrist gauntlet displayed a message from Elder Yeyinde that he wished to speak with Kantra and Grey, immediately.

He told Grey of this, and again she followed him from the room, making no protest, though he was sure she'd rather just burrow back beneath the fur and sleep.

**0**

As she again followed Kantra through the corridors, Grey's mind was still, as it had been for the past couple of days, on the loss of her sensei, and the deep, abiding misery it continued to bring her. She'd gotten up out of bed, that was true; but it wasn't going to take away the sadness and pain that she was feeling at the moment.

Kantra's finding out that she was only fifteen had been a slightly amusing moment; but now she was back to wanting only the quiet of his room and the darkness underneath the cover.

She was, however, momentarily distracted from these thoughts when they came to a large, ornate door, outside of which stood two Yautja in similarly-designed armor, with what she assumed was the Thwei-Luar-ke Clan's symbol embossed on their chests. Each of them held long spears, ready to defend their Elder, should anyone be foolish enough to attempt an attack.

It was here that Kantra stopped, turned, and began typing quickly on the tablet.

"**Beyond this door is the leader of this Clan. His request to speak with you is, in all likelihood, the greatest honor you will ever know. You will speak only when spoken to, ooman. You will not interrupt the Elder, and you will mind your tongue. You will speak plainly, and above all, truthfully. Is this understood?"**

Grey was so tired and depressed, she didn't even care enough to argue, so she simply nodded, and Kantra said something to the two guards, whereby they gave a kind of salute, and opened the door for him.

Grey then followed the Arbitrator into a large room; larger than any she'd seen on the ship so far. A myriad of objects hung on the walls, sat on tables and shelves, or stood on display on the floor, probably trophies this Elder had collected from his Hunts, she reasoned.

Kantra led her to a smaller room that had the look of maybe being a kind of living room or parlor. There were a number of cushions arranged in the center of the room, clustered around a low-sitting table. To one side were a couple of couches, and another, regular-sized (for a Yautja) in another corner. Still more objects were in this room, and she could see that another two doors led off to who-knew-where.

But it was the Yautja kneeling on the cushions beside the table who next got her attention.

He was a sort of chocolate brown color, with black mottling here and there, and his chest and stomach were a somewhat lighter tan color. For one with the title of "Elder", Grey thought, his physique was surprisingly well-defined; but maybe that was normal for Yautja?

He was wearing a pair of simple brown leather shorts, or something akin to them, and when he stood up, he was just a little bit taller than Kantra. His dreadlocks, which fell to his hips, were decorated, as seemed to be the fashion with his kind, with silver and gold rings, though his looked a little more ornate. The only way Grey could have described the color of his hair would have been "salt and pepper", because, although it was clear that the locks had once been deepest black, they were now distinctly flecked here and there with grey, especially at the ends. Many scars crisscrossed his body; evidence of a lifetime of Hunts, and when she looked closer, she saw that a few of these scars appeared to have been left from some kind of burns.

Looking at his face, she saw that his eyes were a kind of light amber color, and the tusks on his mandibles were the color of old ivory.

Her tablet beeped, and Grey looked down to see what Kantra had written.

"**This is Elder Yeyinde, leader of this Clan. He has asked to speak with you regarding your situation. You will speak to him with the deference he deserves."**

It wasn't a question, and the severe look on Kantra's face showed that he was quite serious about her showing the proper respect for the being before her.

The Elder-Yeyinde, Kantra had said his name was-said something to the younger male, who handed him the tablet, and he began to type.

"**You are called Grey, yes?"**

"**Yes."**

"**I am Elder Yeyinde, the leader of this Clan, as Kantra has no doubt told you."**

Even with her depression, Grey was well aware that it was probably only by the Elder's good graces that she hadn't been tossed out into space or something by now, and knelt down to perform _dogeza_, as her sensei had taught her.

"_You'll probably never need to use it, though."_ he'd said. Just one of the many things he'd taught her, and she wondered how much more wisdom he'd had left to impart, had he survived his encounter with the Yautja Kantra had called "Bad Bloods".

When she again raised her head, she saw that Kantra was looking at her in a manner that conveyed his pleasure with her display, and Elder Yeyinde looked quite satisfied with this show of respect.

Coming close to her, he extended one huge hand and, gently, tipped her head back and a bit to the side, examining the dark bruises left by the Bad Blood's huge hand. The Elder's own clawed hands were warm and dry, and after looking at her for a minute or two, he typed:

"**Sit down, ooman Grey, over here. There are matters we three need to discuss."**

He led her over to one of the huge cushions, and Kantra motioned for her to sit. He took up a position on another cushion, kneeling in a familiar way, and Kantra followed his Elder's example.

When they were all settled, the Elder began to type.

"**Firstly, I have to say that I found your fight with the Bad Blood to be quite impressive. Few oomans, and even many Yautja, could not have taken down such an opponent without sustaining grievous injury in the process."**

Grey made no response, but stared down blankly at the tablet in her lap.

"**The first of these," he went on, "being your injuries. Healer Vi'ren has reported back that, with some time and proper food, you should recover from your physical wounds."**

"_Yay for me."_ Grey thought, but said nothing.

"**Even we Yautja, however, can do nothing to erase the trauma you have endured."**

"_No shit…"_ she thought.

"**But beyond that, there is another important matter that we must discuss. You see, Arbitrator Kantra had thought that, perhaps, you might consider staying with us, and being trained as a Yautja."**

Grey's head jerked up at this, and she stared incredulously at first Kantra, then the Elder. What had he just said?

"**However, once we discovered your age, well… Perhaps it would be best for all if we return you to your world. You are only a pup, after all, and still need to be looked after by those of your own kind."**

"**I don't have anybody."** Grey typed, before she knew what she was doing. The whole thing had hit her like a brick in the face. They wanted to take her back to Earth?

Both Kantra and the Elder cocked their heads, clearly surprised by her sudden response.

"**Surely you have a family? I know ooman pups remain with both parents…"** the older Yautja typed.

"**We do, I mean, human do, usually. I live in a group home; it's basically a place where orphans are cared for."** Grey explained, trying to think of how to word it so that they'd understand.

Elder Yeyinde showed the tablet to Kantra, who took it and asked:

"**You have no family at all?"**

"**My mother died when I was three, and my father…"** she tried to think of the right words.

"**My father wasn't really interested in being a parent. I don't have anyone else, really."**

She took a deep breath, and began to put down in writing what had been bothering her ever since Kantra had showed her the footage of her sensei's death, and when he'd told her more about the Yautja.

"**Look, the fact is; I don't think I can go back at this point. My sensei's dead, and that alone would be reason enough for me to run off and never look back. I assume they found his body by now; I was the last one who was seen with him, so I'm sure I'm the first one the police are going to want to question if I suddenly turn up. There's just no way I can explain where I've been for the past few weeks, and every media outlet on the planet would be sniffing around for the story."**

Both Yautja read her words, looked at each other, nodded, and Kantra typed:

"**Go on."**

"**You told me that the government knows about the Yautja, right, Kantra?"**

"**They do."**

"**Well, if what you said is true, then they've probably put two-and-two together by now and realized it was a Yautja who killed my sensei, and all those other people, too. If that's true, then I'd be questioned by some government agents or military types, along with the regular police. I don't like the idea of being interrogated, or of spending the rest of my life in some kind of detainment facility."**

She couldn't read Yautja faces all that well yet, but the pair of them looked astounded by her reasoning.

"**How did you come up with all of this? Kantra told me that you have been lying in bed for the past two days, mourning your teacher."** the Elder typed, and Grey could sense that he was impressed.

"**You remember seeing the footage of me at school, right? The place with all the other humans? In the blue uniforms? Well, that school was a school for especially intelligent children. I was only a few weeks from graduating high school, actually, and I caught hell for it all the time. I've been sad, yes; but I've also been trying to figure out what I would do if I went back home, and none of the things I've come up with seem especially appealing to me."** she concluded.

Kantra and the Elder looked at each other again, still clearly floored by Grey's revelations. It took a minute, but finally, Kantra took the tablet from Elder Yeyinde.

"You understand that, should you decide to remain with the Yautja, you would be held to the same laws and expectations? There will be many who will ignore you, and possibly mistreat you; you will have precious few friends here. You will have to work harder than them to prove yourself worthy of a place among us. You will be trained, and expected to gain honor by going on Hunts. You could very well die, even in basic training, and when that training is over, you will be expected to become an asset and credit to this Clan. Are you certain that this is what you want? It is not too late to change your mind."

"I've got nothing left to go back to. I can only go forward from here." Grey replied, looking into his eyes.

"Then know," he typed, and his honey-colored eyes seemed to darken, "that should you try to run off after today, or should I think that you are becoming lazy, or that you show no promise as a Huntress, I will kill you myself. Make no mistake, ooman; I will show you no mercy. It is I who brought you here, and it is my reputation, my honor, that hinges on your success. I will not allow you to disgrace us both."

She believed every word of it.

"All right. I'll go through the training, I'll bring honor to the Clan." she typed.

"Then it is done. I will contact someone who might be willing to take you in and train you."

He turned to the Elder, said something in Yautja, bowed, and gestured for Grey to follow him out. She, too, bowed her respect, and followed him as he strode out of the room with purpose.

"**Who are you going to get to train me? I thought you'd be the one."** she typed frantically, walking quickly to keep up with him.

"Of course not. You are only a child; you still need looking after. Only Young Bloods and above are allowed to train and be trained in this Clan. You will have to go through the basic training on the Homeworld, before you can set foot on this ship again." Kantra explained, as they continued along.

Along the way, she passed a young Yautja wearing a student's headband, who was cleaning the corridor floor with a bucket of water and a comically small scrub brush, supervised by a rather sour-looking older male. The Young Blood caught sight of her and growled, glaring furiously in her direction until she turned a corner. She supposed this was one of the ones who'd been bothering her, and he was on punishment.

"_Maybe getting away from here would be for the best…"_ she thought, seeing the hateful way the Young Blood had looked at her.

"**But who would train me?"** she typed, a little out of breath, as they arrived back at Kantra's quarters.

Going back over to her bed, she sat down and waited for an answer.

"**If all goes well, my mother, Ijane, will board and train you."** Kantra said.

"**Your…mother?!"**

Even though Kantra had told her that there were, in fact, female Yautja, she was having a hard time imagining what they'd look like, let alone how they'd behave.

"**She was an extraordinary Huntress, before I was born. She will train you, and I believe she will treat you well, as long as you behave."**

"**How do you pronounce her name?"** Grey wanted to know, looking at the log of past conversations. There was no way she was pronouncing it right in her head.

"Ee-ya-nay." Kantra said aloud, and, like most of the words he'd taught her, worked with her for a few minutes until he was satisfied she was saying it properly.

"**It is a very old family name; one of my ancestors brought it with her from the eastern desert when she came to the Lakeshore Clan, where my family now reside. The pronunciation varies, depending on the area and Clan."**

He then went over to his computer and began interacting with it, scrolling through the alien text, until he found and selected a section. The screen then went blank for a few seconds, and then a few lines of text appeared.

Kantra began typing, and Grey supposed that this might be some kind of Yautja e-mail or chatroom or something, because he kept at it for quite awhile. She watched him for the better part of an hour, until at last he turned off the computer and went to sit at the table. She followed him, struggling for a moment to get into the chair, and sat across from him.

"**She has agreed to take over your care and training, as a favor to me. We will be leaving for the Homeworld tomorrow."** the Arbitrator typed.


	10. Chapter 10

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**Chapter 10**

The next day, Kantra woke Grey up early, and after a quick breakfast of naxa and water, the pair made their way to Elder Yeyinde's quarters to see him before setting off for the Yautja Homeworld.

Kantra was pleased when Grey again performed her kneeling bow and thanked the Elder for allowing her to stay aboard the Clan's ship; but he was a little affronted when she dared to ask him for a favor, until he read her request, anyway.

"**Elder Yeyinde, will you please thank Kwei for making the translator for me? And thank Vi'ren, for coming all this way to see me?"**

Elder Yeyinde said that he would, and added, offhandedly to Kantra, that Kwei had already sent a message to him, telling of how he, the Yautja who had helped him design and program the translator, and Vi'ren were going to begin designing a newer and more advanced version that would have "a number of new capabilities" that the ooman would find helpful.

"New capabilities? What does he mean by that?" Kantra had asked, a little wary.

"With Kwei, it could mean almost anything. The thing may be able to fly, by the times he is finished with it. The gods only know…" the older Yautja said, with a sigh.

Once the Elder had excused them, they boarded Kantra's ship and set off.

Kantra had enjoyed immensely the astounded expression on Grey's face when he revealed to her that Yautja ships were, in many cases, capable of faster-than-light travel, and because of their relatively close proximity to the Homeworld, they would arrive in only a few hours' time.

She watched in amazement as they made the jump, stars, planets and who-knew-what else going by in a blur, until she admitted that she was beginning to feel a little queasy, and went to lie down for awhile. The Arbitrator chuckled to himself; it had been the same for him, and many others, upon their first time experiencing hyperspace.

An hour or so later, Grey returned to the bridge, feeling better, and began to question Kantra about his mother and her Clan.

"**As I said, her name is Ijane, and she is a member of the Lakeshore Clan."** he typed.

"**Are they a Hunting Clan, too?"** Grey asked.

"**No. The Lakeshore Clan is comprised of females and their pups. It is my maternal Clan, where I was born and raised before I went off to become a Hunter."**

"**I'm kind of nervous; especially after what you said about how a lot of Yautja aren't going to like it that I'm here."**

"**I think that the females will behave a bit differently. Their ways are different from those of males, and you may find some acceptance among them, if you behave properly. The first step toward this is learning our tongue. It will make things infinitely easier for you, and go far to show your commitment to your life among us."**

"**Is your mother going to teach me?"**

"**She has agreed, yes. She will be teaching you our language, as well as our customs, laws, history, and, of course, weapons and combat training. I fully expect you to listen to her, and do what she asks of you."**

"**I don't have to convert to your religion, do I? I'm not really into religion…"** Grey admitted, and looked uncomfortable.

"**Your religion is your concern. We have our own gods, temples, priests and priestesses; but your beliefs are your own. As long as it does not conflict with your training and studies, you may practice, or choose not to practice, whatever faith you wish."**

"**Is your mother religious?"**

"**She practices our faith. She goes to the Great Temple on holy days to perform the sacred dances; but she is no zealot, if that is what you are asking."**

Grey looked immensely relieved about this.

She asked him more questions about his mother and his Clan, and Kantra told filled her in on some of the things she'd need to know in order to help her fit in better.

In this manner, the hours passed, until the computer told the Arbitrator that they were entering the atmosphere of the Homeworld.

Kantra's heart gave a kind hard thump as he saw, for the first time in several years, the planet of his birth, and felt a kind of pride when he heard Grey's gasp of amazement as the ship drew closer to the surface, until the terrain began to become distinguishable.

At the moment, they were soaring over an immense, red sand desert, where the occasional plateau rose high into the sky. Though he wouldn't have known it, had Vi'ren not mentioned it in the report he'd sent to Kantra the previous day, certain deserts on the Homeworld would be deadly to oomans, because of the intense radiation caused by a certain kind of rock on which the desert sat. Vi'ren had made a list of these places, and advised that Grey be kept far away even from their boundaries, because even small amounts of radiation could prove dangerous, if not outright fatal, for her kind.

This desert was, however, not one of the dangerous ones, so Grey might, one day, be able to come here and Hunt the enormous, hard-shelled, six-legged reptilian creatures that made their homes in the huge caverns below the surface.

Gradually, the desert turned into a hot, dry savannah, and that eventually turned into a lush, green jungle, where enormous trees rose into the clouds. They were very close now…

**0000000000**

As Kantra's ship made its way across the landscape, Grey couldn't believe it; she was actually seeing another planet! How long had the scientists on Earth been looking out into space, hoping to find some sign of life on Mars, or the moon, or wherever? But it was she who was actually seeing an alien world; an alien world that was not only hospitable to life, but was actually flourishing!

She marveled at the beauty of the red sand desert, the sprawling savannah, dotted here and there with huge trees, and now, the jungle that spread out like a soft green carpet below the ship. Even with the sadness of her recent loss, she was still able to appreciate the magnitude of what she was seeing.

And she was going to live here.

A sudden thought occurred to her, and she quickly picked up her tablet.

"**How long am I going to be staying with your mother?"**

She didn't know what was considered "legal age" with Yautja; but she was fairly certain that it was different from that of humans.

"**According to Vi'ren's recommendations, ten years should be sufficient."** Kantra responded.

_Ten years?!_

"**I'll be twenty-five before I even go to basic training, then! You know that most humans only live to be about seventy or eighty, if they're lucky, right?"**

"**Normally, yes; but apparently Vi'ren is working on a kind of solution to that."**

"**What kind of "solution"?"** Grey demanded.

"**Honestly, I have no idea; but he did seem confident in his assurances. Until then, focus on your training."**

Grey sighed and leaned back in her chair, but a sudden thought struck her, and she had to ask Kantra about it.

"**Am I going to be expected to Hunt humans?"**

The Arbitrator thought for a moment, before responding:

"**I do not believe so, no. Hunting oomans is a matter of choice for Yautja; it is not a requirement. Indeed, there are a good many who have never even seen one of your kind."**

This made Grey feel immensely better, and she began to stare out at the beautiful landscape again. After awhile, the ship began to slow down, and Grey could see that they were approaching a small lake, and near it, a large clearing broke up the monotony of the green jungle.

Slowly, the ship descended, until it landed, without the slightest bump, on the planet's surface. As Kantra let down the ramp, a knot of anxiety began to form in Grey's stomach. She had no idea when she'd see Kantra again, and though she was still wary of the Yautja, he was, at least, someone with whom she could get along fairly well.

"**Come along. She is waiting for us."**

Grey did as she was told, and followed him down the ramp. The heat of this planet seemed to suck the breath out of her as soon as she left the ship, and when she looked up, she saw that not one, but two suns shone down upon them, and the sky seemed to be a greenish color.

"_Definitely not in LA anymore…"_ she thought blandly, and continued on after Kantra, glad that there was some soft grass to walk on, because she was still barefoot, and she thought that the dirt would probably burn her feet, should she attempt to walk on it.

The ship had landed a little ways from what Grey assumed was the village's entrance, which was made of two enormous pillars of carved stone, set into a huge wall of something that looked like cement, though the numerous huge vines and creepers adorning it showed that it had been here for ages. Drawing closer, Grey could see that, just beyond this gate, there was a lone figure, standing in the shade of a huge tree.

"**She has come out to meet us."** Kantra explained, and quickened his pace slightly, so that Grey had to trot to keep up with him.

They passed through the huge stone gate, and Grey took a look around as she walked.

The village consisted of maybe a dozen large buildings, all of which were dome-shaped, and made out of some kind of mud or clay, with some of them having double, or even triple, domes, indicating, perhaps, extra rooms? Each house had its own yard, the boundaries of which were marked by simple fences of large sticks, and she could see what might have been small gardens in a couple of these yards. The houses were all scattered around a mostly open space in the center, but there were a couple of little buildings here, too. On a small slope overlooking the other houses was one that was a bit bigger, perhaps the house of their Clan leader, or village council, or something like that. Several Yautja were out and about, and more than one cast a half-interested glance in their direction, saw her, and, like the ones back on the Clan ship, dropped what they were holding. A couple of younger-looking ones went sprinting off in different directions, no doubt to tell others of their unusual visitor, and Grey dearly hoped that she wouldn't face another encounter like she had with the Young Bloods.

Off to one side, Grey could just barely make out the thin line of water that was the lake, but the rest of the village was bordered by the immense, primordial jungle.

It was then that Grey noticed that there were now a large number of Yautja coming out of their houses, or from behind them, to stare in amazement and, she was sure, confusion, at her. They kept their distance, however, so she wasn't able to get a look at them.

The grass abruptly stopped, as it seemed that the center of the village served as a kind of midway, and untold generations of Yautja feet had long since rid the area of any grass, leaving only hard, packed dirt in its place. Grey had to keep hopping slightly to keep her bare feet from burning painfully, and she knew she must have looked ridiculous to the watching crowd; but she couldn't help it.

The ground was much cooler beneath the tree, and Grey was so relieved that she almost forgot why they'd come here in the first place, until she happened to look up.

The Yautja that stood before her now was, without question, a female. She had a curvy sort of body, and the size of her chest made Grey, with her B-cups, more than a little self-conscious. She was a very light brown, with small flecks of black, and was almost a foot taller than her son, who Grey could see clearly resembled her.

The long dreadlocks that grew from her scalp were adorned, not with silver or gold bands, but with interwoven strings of various colors, and small, round discs of shell or bone. She wore a simple, knee-length green tunic dress, and Grey noticed that, as the female looked at her, she had the same honey-colored eyes as Kantra.

This female cocked her head slightly as she looked at the human, clicking her mandibles in a thoughtful way, and though she didn't feel threatened by her, Grey did feel suddenly awkward and shy, and scooted, as surreptitiously as she could manage, behind Kantra, who caught her by the scruff of the neck and gently guided her to stand beside him.

"**This is my mother."** he typed, his eyes only momentarily leaving his mother's face. Grey got that feeling that they hadn't seen each other in awhile.

"H-hello… I'm Grey…" the human said quietly, though she didn't know why she was introducing herself, as she was certain that the female didn't understand her. Grey bowed politely, as it seemed something the Yautja were familiar with, and tried not to fidget around too much, so as not to seem rude.

"Ijane." the female said, in a surprisingly softer growl than she would have expected.

She then said something to her son, and this began a conversation that Grey had no hope of understanding, so she just stood there, feeling more out-of-place than she ever had, watching the two aliens talk to each other. Kantra, too, appeared to find the situation uncomfortable, because he wouldn't meet his mother's gaze, and kept his head down slightly as he conversed. Perhaps the males were trained to treat the females with this kind of deference?

The worst part of this whole experience was that Grey knew they were talking about her, because Ijane nodded or gestured toward her a couple of times, seemingly agitated by something, and Kantra put his arm behind his head in a nervous way, clearly trying to explain something.

After a few minutes, Kantra typed on the tablet.

"**I must be on my way now. My mother will take over your care from here. See that you obey her in all that she tells you, and train hard. I will be coming by soon to check up on your progress. If I find that you have been disrespectful or lazy, I assure you that you will be punished. Do you understand, Grey?"**

"**I understand."** the human typed, not wanting to be on the wrong end of the Arbitrator's wrath.

He said something to his mother, who reached out and shook her son's shoulder, and Grey saw him tense up slightly, before he nodded, handed her the tablet, turned around, and left the shade of the tree, striding quickly back through the village. About a minute later, they both watched as the ship soared up into the air, and soon disappeared into the clouds, leaving the human and Yautja alone together.

**0000000000**

As the ship left the planet's atmosphere, Kantra felt, as he had for a long time, a sense of great guilt. Once again, he had acted so distant towards his mother, though his feelings were anything but cold.

He forced himself to think of something else, and as he put the ship into hyperdrive, he wondered how Grey was going to adjust to her new home. He was certain that his mother would treat her well; but how would the others in the village behave? He'd seen them, staring from the sidelines as they'd walked through the midway, but none of them had approached the odd pair, nor even called out to him. He hoped that Grey would be able to win them over, or at least gain their tolerance, in time.

He wished her luck in this endeavor, and made a mental note to check up on her soon…

**0000000000**

Ijane had been shocked when her son had contacted her so suddenly; and she'd had to read the messages he'd sent several times before responded, because they sounded so unbelievable.

He'd gone to a Bad Blood Hunting planet, and had returned, not only with two trophies to show for his effort, but a live-though barely-ooman female! Had she not known of her son's dry sense of humor, she would have thought that he'd contacted her to try and pull some kind of practical joke or something; but then, he'd sent her the footage…

As she'd watched the small creature being tormented, her rage had built up, and she'd had a sense of great satisfaction when the ooman, whom Kantra said was called "Grey", finally made her stand, after the final indignity of having her clothes taken by the three Bad Bloods. This had brought up old feelings for Ijane, but she put them aside as she watched the ooman, and then her Arbitrator son, deal with the Bad Bloods in their own way. A fierce sense of pride came over her when she saw the ease with which Kantra killed his targets, and slight amusement at the ooman's clumsy, yet effective, strategy.

She'd then been told that this particular ooman was only a pup of fifteen, and that, as she'd decided to remain among their kind, she'd need somewhere to stay until she became the proper age to begin her basic training and join their Clan.

Ijane had no other pups, and really, not much to do with her free time since her son had left her home. She'd always been considered something of an enigma among the other Yautja (females who Hunted usually got odd looks from at least a few others in their society), and so she'd jumped at the challenge of training an ooman to fight like a proper Huntress.

She had gone out early to wait in the shade beneath a large tree, and had felt the flutter of excitement and affection that her son's visits, however sporadic and short, always brought her. She'd had to control herself not to run and embrace him openly; for he, as an Arbitrator, had to keep up his reputation of dignity.

So she'd waited, watching as the two figures had descended from the ship and come walking through the village's large gate. She saw that the ooman was quite a bit smaller than her son, and even with her odd-looking dress, Ijane could tell that she was very skinny. As they drew closer, she saw, with shock, that the female had several large bruises on her neck and face, and her hair seemed to have been hacked off in random clumps, leaving an uneven mess that looked nothing like the long tresses that Ijane had seen the pup sporting in the footage of her capture, where it had rippled down her back in a shiny black curtain.

When they entered the village, and the grass turned to dirt, the little female began a kind of quick, hopping motion, and Ijane wondered for a moment what on the Homeworld she was doing, until the realization hit her that the pup's bare feet were probably being scorched by the heat of the dirt, and made a mental note to have some sandals made for her as soon as possible.

"Kantra…" she said, as her son came to stand before her, and she saw that, as usual, his eyes, so like her own, were averted from her gaze. He hadn't really looked at her properly in a long time, and today was no different.

"Mother… I have brought the ooman." Kantra said simply, nodding to the pup, who looked shyly up at her, clearly unsure of what to make of her new caretaker.

"I see her, Kantra; she looks thin, and- Wait, is she wearing a _sheet_?" Ijane asked incredulously, taking in the sight of the makeshift garment.

"The Healer, Vi'ren said that she should fill out a bit, once she has begun eating properly again. As for the sheet, well… I could think of nothing else to give her to wear, and she had to have something to cover herself, of course. She seems to have made do with it, however."

"And those bruises! Those will take some time to heal… I can't believe she didn't sustain more damage, with how she was flung around by those barbarians; and then the Young Bloods' treatment of her…" Ijane said, shaking her head in disgust.

"I dealt with the former, and the latter, as I told you, Mother. Apparently, oomans are more resilient than I had thought; for Vi'ren said that her wounds will heal, with time."

"And was it the Bad Bloods or the Young Bloods who did that to her hair?" the former Huntress questioned. Clearly, humiliation would have been the only motive for such an act.

"Actually, the Senior Healer had to do that in order to properly examine her. I assume you could, er, correct it, somewhat?" Kantra asked.

"I will do what I can; though that may not be much. What about you, Kantra? How have you been doing? Have you been eating well? Did you sustain any wounds during your Hunt?" she asked, looking closely at her son, trying to see if he did indeed have any visible injuries.

"I am doing fine, Mother, and I am sent the best food the ship's kitchens have to offer. I was not injured by any of the Bad Bloods; however, this little one-" he nodded to the ooman, who was trying to make herself look smaller, in her apparent nervousness, "managed to take me by surprise with a knife."

Ijane's eyes widened, more in amusement than worry.

"Was it a serious wound?" she asked, her mandibles twitching.

"A shallow cut to my hand, when I reached for her without thinking. She was already frightened, and ready to fight me to the death, I think. She collapsed after that, and I took her aboard my ship, to let her die in peace, at least. She, however, seemed to have other ideas, and so, she is here now."

"I've watched the footage you sent me, several times, actually. She has spirit, I'll say that much. You want me to train her, yes? Alongside Nanku?"

"Yes, Mother. I would ask that you teach her to fight, both with weapons and unarmed. I also wish for you to teach her our language and our ways. I leave it to your discretion, should she require punishment; but ask that you not kill her, if you can help it. If it comes to that, I will do the deed, as my reputation is at stake, should she misbehave." Kantra said, looking down seriously at the female.

"I highly doubt it would come to that, Kantra. How much trouble could such a little thing make?" Ijane asked, but then remembered that she was talking about an _ooman_, after all. She'd Hunted them before, and knew well of their cunning.

"I will remind you, Mother, that she killed a fully-grown Yautja with a rusted blade when she was half-starved and exhausted. I cannot imagine what she could do once she is back to full health, if she took a notion to make some _real_ trouble." Kantra cautioned.

"I saw what she did; that's why I was so eager to take her in. If she has any talent at all, I will bring it out and hone it. Once I'm finished training her, she'll become the pride of your Clan, I can almost promise that." Ijane said confidently.

"Then I will leave it to you, Mother. This-" he said, holding up a small, rectangular device, "is the translator that our quartermaster, Kwei, made for her. It will be very easy for you to learn how to use it. With it, you can communicate with her, while you teach her our tongue. Her name is "Grey", by the way, and she may be a little…melancholy for a while… Her instructor was killed by the Bad Bloods, as you saw, and it seems that she had an unusually strong bond with him. Thus far, she has proven to be obedient and cooperative, and I am sure that will make things infinitely easy for you. Now, I must go; I have duties to attend to." he said, clearly eager to leave.

"Wouldn't you like to stay and eat? I could have your favorite stew prepared in no time…" she said, trying to tempt him, though she knew it was futile.

"I am afraid not, Mother. Forgive me, but I must go. I will contact you soon, and I will be coming by every now and again, to check her progress. Also, Vi'ren intends to come here on a regular basis to monitor her health. He seems determined to follow her case closely."

"Very well. Are you sure you can't stay? Just for awhile?" Ijane asked, wishing for just a bit more time with her only child.

"I am sorry, but as I said, I have duties back at the Clan ship."

With this, he typed something on the translator, and Ijane saw the ooman's eyes widen slightly, before she typed out a reply. Kantra then handed his mother the translator, and before he could turn to leave, she had reached out and gently shook his shoulder, since she doubted that he'd permit her to embrace him. He nodded to her, then the ooman, and turned to leave.

Both females watched him stride back through the village and through the gate, and soon, his ship was rising high into the air, taking Ijane's son far away again.

"_At least he'll be back soon…"_ she thought, watching the tiny speck of the ship disappear.


	11. Chapter 11

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**Chapter 11**

Grey watched as Kantra's ship disappeared into the clouds, leaving her alone on this alien world, in the care of the Yautja Ijane…Kantra's mother.

Turning to look at the female, Grey gave a small, uncertain smile, hoping to get things off to a good start. Kantra had said that she'd be staying here for ten whole years, and she dearly hoped that this Ijane was someone with whom she could get along.

The Yautja, meanwhile, seemed to be thinking along those same lines; for she looked at the translator and, though it apparently took her a minute to figure it out, soon got the gist of it and began to type.

"**I am Ijane, as my son has no doubt told you. I will be taking over your care and training. Kantra told me that your name is "Grey", is it not?"** she then waited patiently for a reply.

"**Yes, ma'am."** Grey replied, with a small bow, her uncertainty and sadness were unable to override the manners that had been instilled in her by both her former caretaker Emilia, and her sensei; an admittedly odd mixture of American and Japanese manners, but manners nonetheless.

Ijane seemed satisfied by this showing of respect, and typed on the translator again.

"**I think that the first thing we should do is get you bathed and fed, and then find you some proper clothing. You can't go around wearing sheets for the next ten years. Kantra told me that the Healers aboard his Clan ship were the ones who cut your hair, correct?"**

"**They had to examine my head, yes."**

"**Well, I can attempt to make it look a bit more presentable. Know, however, that I am far from an expert in ooman aesthetics…"**

"**Anything you can do would be appreciated, ma'am."** Grey typed, and her gratitude must have shown on her face, because the larger female's mandibles clicked softly as she chuckled.

"**Then let's go. My house is the red clay one near the forest. Come along."**

With this, she began walking, and Grey followed, trying not to hop around too much on the hot dirt. If she was going to be living here for a decade, she didn't want to start off by making everyone around think she was crazy or something.

Ijane's house was, as the others, an enormous, three-domed structure, made of clay of a rich, reddish color that reminded Grey a little of terra cotta. Ijane pushed the panel on the wall beside the front door, which slid up to let them inside.

It took Grey's eyes a little while to adjust from the bright sunlight of the outside to the much softer light inside the house; but once she was able to see properly again, she had a look around.

They were standing in a large, circular room, in the middle of which was a kind of indent in the floor, where a number of large, comfortable-looking cushions were arranged neatly around a low table, like they had been in Elder Yeyinde's quarters. It must have been a common Yautja decorating choise, she decided.

The floor on which she stood was made of cool, light beige tiles, and she could see that a couple of doors were leading off to different parts of the house. On the walls in what she decided to call the living room hung dozens of bleached-white skulls; trophies from Ijane's days as a Huntress. Among these, Grey noticed, with a jolt, were several grinning human skulls.

Her tablet beeped with a new message, and Grey read:

"**Remain here for a few minutes. I am going to go and see about getting you something to wear."**

She turned to see that Ijane was walking out the front door and, unsure if she should sit down, or if it would seem rude, since she hadn't been invited to do so, she stood in the middle of the room, wondering what was going to happen next.

**0000000000**

Ijane walked across the open area in the center of the village, heading to a large house of greyish-brown clay, the front yard of which was scattered with various wooden toys, and a long pole supported by two forked branches, on which hung a number of articles of clothing, freshly washed, which would soon be dry under the planet's twin suns. From inside, the female could hear the sound of several pups running around and calling out to one another, and she laughed softly to herself as she knocked on the house's door.

A moment later, another female answered, holding a two-week-old suckling in her arms, another one of about four or five seasons holding onto her long skirt and peering around to see who'd come to their door.

"Nuini, I need to ask a favor of you." Ijane said, and the other female looked surprised, before stepping aside to let her inside.

The inside of the house was scattered with still more toys, and a couple of articles of clothing. A female pup of around twelve was busy chasing after another little female, this one perhaps three, trying to get hold of her, apparently for a bath, as the older female had a towel over one shoulder.

"Come in, if you dare it. Pardon the chaos; but this is my home." Nuini said, as she watched Ijane look around. She was slightly shorter than Ijane, with yellow-brown skin, and her plaited hair was gathered at her shoulders to keep it out of her face as she delt with her brood, and she had light brown eyes and was wearing a deep green top and long brown skirt today.

"Mother, I can't get Chu'tdi to take her bath!" came the exasperated complaint of the second oldest of Nuini's daughters, as the little female continued to zip around the room.

"Chu'tdi! Bath, now!" Nuini said, with a snap of her fingers in the female's direction and she allowed her older sister to take her, trudging along as though she were walking to her doom. It was well known around the village that Nuini loved her children deeply; but that they all jumped to obey her orders whenever she gave them.

"I'm sorry, what did you need, Ijane?" she asked, turning back to her friend and readjusting the suckling in her arms. He'd been starting to fuss a bit, but the new position seemed to calm him, and he went back to sucking his fingers and ignoring the conversation of the two females.

"I actually wondered if I might borrow a few of your daughters' clothes? I would ensure they were returned to you, of course." Ijane said.

Nuini's eyes widened, and a huge smile crossed her mandibles.

"Ijane, are you…? I mean, this season, did you…?" she asked slyly, inspecting the other female closely.

"I certainly didn't, and you well know it! I need the clothes for a guest who will be remaining with me for some time; but I only need them until I can make her some things of her own." Ijane explained, a little hotly.

"Oh! Well, of course… Which of my daughters' clothes do you need?" Nuini asked.

"I think a few things of Ha'vna'di's would be about the right size for her. She's such a small thing, after all…" Ijane said, after a minute's thought. Ha'vna'di was Nuini's eight-year-old daughter, who was visiting her favorite aunt and cousins, who lived in Nuini's own maternal Clan some distance away.

Nuini guided Ijane back to the bedroom shared by two of her daughters, and began pulling out various outfits. In the end, Ijane chose five and a nightdress, and assured her friend again that they'd be returned in good condition.

"Who's pup are you looking after, anyway?" the other female asked, as the pair made their way back to the front door.

Ijane hesitated a moment, before deciding to tell Nuini of her unusual guest. Her friend was no gossip, and the last thing Ijane wanted was for the entire village to camp out outside her home, wanting their first glance at the ooman named Grey.

The other female's eyes widened, and her mouth fell open when she heard, but Ijane swore her to the utmost secrecy.

"At least until she's well enough to walk around and be introduced to everyone. She's injured and malnourished, and, I imagine, quite nervous." the former Huntress explained, and Nuini again said that she wouldn't tell a soul, but that she'd like to come see Grey for herself, once she was doing a bit better. Ijane agreed, knowing that this female would do nothing to unduly trouble her charge.

"Does your mother know of this arrangement?" Nuini asked, again shifting her son's position.

"She's at the Great Temple at the moment, with Mjadi and Nanku. She should be back in a few days, though. I doubt she'll have any real objection, as long as the ooman behaves herself. Nanku will be training with her, when she is able."

"And your sister?" the other asked, opening the door for her friend.

"If Mother allows Grey to remain here, Mjadi will just have to accept it. Besides, Mjadi isn't cruel; she'd more likely ignore the ooman than anything else. Forgive me, but I must go now." Ijane said, excusing herself, just as she saw a naked Chu'tdi zoom through the room, her elder sister coming over and collapsing dramatically on a cushion, looking like her little sister had tried to give _her_ the bath, instead of the other way around.

"Good luck…" Ijane said, shaking her head, and headed home, the clothes in her arms.

**0000000000**

Grey was still standing there ten minutes later, when Ijane came back into the house, carrying what turned out to be several different outfits. Grey was beyond relieved that everything seemed to fit her, and to have real clothes to wear again!

"**Remember: these belong to the daughter of my good friend, Nuini. Make sure you take care of them until I can make you some garments of your own. We'll have to go to the village crafter to have some sandals made for you; none of Nuini's children have any that would fit you properly."** Ijane had informed her, once she'd tried everything on.

She was, however, told to put the sheet back over herself, and Ijane led her into what turned out to be the kitchen, and directed her to sit in one of the four chairs arranged around the small table, while she went over to a counter and began rummaging in a drawer, grumbling to herself the same way Emilia had when she was trying to find something in the kitchen's junk drawer. Finally, she returned with a large pair of scissors, and Grey steeled herself for what she'd known was coming.

"**Again, I warn you; I have no experience with this sort of thing. I will do my best to make you look passible, though. Stay still; I just sharpened these scissors a few days ago."** the female said, and after looking at her from a few different angles, took a deep breath, and began.

It only took about twenty minutes, and Grey was surprised by how gentle Ijane was. Finally, the Yautja had managed to create for Grey a presentable, albeit quite short, sort of pixie cut.

"**What do you think?"** Ijane inquired, as Grey stood up and began brushing the hair off her shoulders.

"**I like it. It'll be easier to take care of like this. Thank you."** she replied truthfully. With this heat, her long, heavy hair would have been even more uncomfortable than it had been in LA. Only a kind of stubborn pride had prevented her from cutting it years ago, though she'd thought about it often.

The older female seemed pleased with Grey's answer, and led her to the bathroom, which held both a large shower and huge, sunken tub, along with the sink and toilet.

"**We Yautja like our baths, when we have the time. There are even large bathhouses in the cities, where they come from all over to enjoy the baths and relax for awhile. Of course, the only males who can do such things are usually high-ranking Hunters, Elders, and the like. Many of them send their favorite females to the cities for a few days of luxury before the mating season."** Ijane explained, when she saw how big Grey's eyes got at the size of the bathtub.

"_And to think I shared two bathrooms with nine other people…"_ Grey thought.

Then Ijane showed Grey her new bedroom. It was about the same size as the one she'd occupied on Earth; but she wasn't sharing with three other girls this time. A big pile of cushions in one corner would serve as her bed, and there were a couple of tables and chairs, and what looked like a big wardrobe in one corner. A door led off into the living room, and another led into the bathroom, which Ijane explained sort of connected Grey's room with her own. There was a large, round window in Grey's new room, where she could get a good look out at the village's center, where the other inhabitants were now going about their business.

"This house is wonderful! Thank you for letting me stay here, Ijane." Grey typed, and indeed, she truly was grateful.

Grey had a shower and changed into one of her borrowed outfits, after which Ijane began measuring her for some new clothes that she'd make herself. She had seemed intrigued when Grey requested that they be a little bigger, because even back on Earth, she'd liked her clothes to be just a little baggy; she felt like she had more freedom of movement that way.

Once the measuring was done, Ijane took Grey into the kitchen, where she began preparing something for the human to eat, checking the list Vi'ren had added to the translator to make sure nothing in her kitchen was inedible for her new houseguest. Luckily, everything was fine, save for some bright red _zorza_ berries, which Ijane quickly disposed of, and a dusty bottle of c'ntlip, which the list said would likely be far strong for an ooman, even if Grey _were_ old enough to drink it.

Grey ate every bite of the large steak that was sat before her, and Ijane voiced her surprise and pleasure at how much the girl could eat and that she enjoyed her cooking so much, respectively. Grey then volunteered to do the dishes, much to the Yautja's delight, and once that was done, joined her on the living room cushions, where her new caretaker had already begun sewing on an outfit for her.

Grey wasn't sure what to do now. Back on Earth, she hadn't had a lot of spare time, what with school, karate class, and the housework Emilia gave her, so without instructions, she just sat there, lost in her own thoughts, for the better part of two hours. Ijane must have noticed her new charge just staring into space, because she put aside her sewing and picked up the translator.

"I think it would be good for you to start learning our language, Grey. It will serve you well in the future, and adopting our tongue will show others your commitment to living among us. Kantra said he'd already gone over a few words with you?" she inquired.

Grey nodded, and proceeded to list the words she could remember, trying to pronounce them correctly. She couldn't remember very many, however, because the events of the past few days had taken her mind completely off everything else, save for her own sadness, which still clung to her, though she was trying to keep busy, hoping to avoid the worst of it.

They then began Grey's first lesson. Ijane was an amazingly patient teacher, and by the time the female had decided they'd done enough for that day, Grey could say a few simple sentences, and a number of new words. She decided that, if she'd been able to learn basic Japanese from her sensei, she could learn Yautja from Ijane.

A simple dinner of meat and a kind of flatbread called _n'eza_ followed, after which Ijane suggested Grey try to get some sleep, since the second sun was beginning to set. The human was indeed tired, and did as she was told, with the older female showing her a bottle of green liquid in the bathroom that was the Yautja equivalent of mouthwash, except it was way better at cleaning teeth than the run-of-the-mill stuff from Earth. Feeling full, her body and teeth now clean, Grey crawled into bed, wearing the borrowed nightdress, and soon fell asleep.

**0000000000**

As it had been for the past few nights, Grey's sleep was troubled by dreams of her sensei's death. In one of these, she stood there, awake, but helpless, as he was again impaled on the wristblades of the Bad Blood, and flung against the wall. She woke up, realizing that she'd been crying in her sleep, and hoped that her hostess hadn't heard her, though she knew by now that Yautja ears (she was pretty sure they had ears, anyway) could pick up a whisper at a considerable distance.

She was about to try and go back to sleep, when a kind of pale, flickering light coming through the window got her attention, and she got up and pulled back the curtain to see what was going on outside.

Several fires were lit next to the houses she could see through her window, and around them were various females and a few pups. It looked like some of the females were cooking over these fires, while the pups ran around, playing as if it were daytime. Was this some kind of Yautja block party or something?

She'd have to wait until morning to ask Ijane, she decided, because she didn't know if the female was still in bed, or perhaps out among several figures chatting in the village center. Yawning widely, she crawled back into bed and was soon asleep again.

**0000000000**

Ijane came to wake her up sometime later, and over a breakfast of naxa, Grey asked about the oddity she'd witnessed the previous night, now wondering if she'd been dreaming the whole time.

"**No, it wasn't a celebration; my people simply require less sleep than oomans do, so they were already up and about when you saw them. It was probably just before what we call "First Sunrise", and the younger pups weren't awake yet, so their mothers were getting their breakfast ready. Some of them just wanted to cook out on over the fire, is all. You actually slept quite a long time."** the Yautja explained, as Grey helped her wash the plates they'd been using.

This was extremely interesting to Grey, who then wanted to know how long a day on this planet was, compared with the 24-hour cycle of days on Earth.

"**I can't give you an accurate answer for that; but suffice it to say that our days are longer than yours, as well as our months and years. Perhaps Vi'ren might know, when he comes by to check on you."**

She'd almost forgotten about the Yautja doctor, and found herself looking forward to his next visit. She wanted a timeframe on when she could be expected to start training with Ijane. If nothing else, it would keep her mind occupied with something other than the thoughts of how much she missed her sensei.

"**Kantra said I'd be training with someone?"** she typed, suddenly remembering this bit of information.

"**Yes. You'll be training alongside Nanku, who is my nephew through my sister, Mjadi. He is a bit older than you; but I don't foresee any problems."**

"**Is he coming over soon for his lesson?"** Grey wanted to know. If she couldn't join in, at least she'd like to watch, to see what she'd be in for when it was her turn.

"**He's gone to see the Great Temple with Mjadi and our mother, Di'Sedi. They'll be back in a few days, and I'll take you to see my mother. She's the Matriarch of this Clan, and has the final say on whether you may stay here or not."**

Grey grew nervous at this. If this Matriarch's opinion was that important, why had Ijane taken her in to begin with?

"**What if she doesn't like me? Where will I go?"** the human typed frantically, hoping she wouldn't end up in some Yautja orphanage, or out on the streets of some alien city…or worse. What if they decided she was too much of a bother, and just killed her for simplicity's sake?

What if they sent her back to Earth?

Ijane had apparently noticed the worried look on Grey's face, and typed out:

"**I don't think she'll have any issue with you, Grey. She's always been rather open-minded; some actually consider this a fault, actually. Many of our Elders are like that; their horizons broaden as they age and experience the world, and they learn to accept things that others may draw away from."**

Grey thought back to meeting Elder Yeyinde, how he'd seemed curious about her…even sympathetic to her situation. She only hoped Ijane's mother would have a similar outlook.

Even so, she couldn't forget the fact that Ijane hadn't answered her about what would happen if her mother didn't approve of a human living in their village…

**000000000**

Over the next three or four days, Ijane discovered that her new charge was a great help about the house. She helped sweep the floors, prepare food, wash dishes, and many other things, and was quick to perform whatever task the Yautja female set her to.

"Back on Earth," she explained, during one evening when they were relaxing at the kitchen table after dinner, "I was the only one Emilia could get to do anything. Eight other girls living in that house, including her own biological daughter, and none of them hardly helped out at all. She was only one woman, who worked all day to help bring in extra money, because the state wasn't helping out as much as it said it would. If I didn't do the dishes during the day, she couldn't make dinner when she came home; if I didn't help with the laundry, no one would have any clean clothes, and they'd all ride my ass until I gave up and did whatever needed to be done."

"This Emilia…was not your mother, then?" Ijane had asked, before she thought about how personal of a question this was.

"No. My mother died when I was about three. My father was… He wasn't in a position to take care of me, so I ended up with Emilia." Grey typed, and even with her basic knowledge of ooman facial expressions, Ijane knew that the younger female was uncomfortable with this particular subject, and decided to take the conversation in another direction.

"When did you start learning your fighting skills?"

Her charge thought for a minute before replying.

"**I started when I was around five. They had a free lesson for the kids in the neighborhood, and Emilia brought all of the girls she had at that time. I was the only one who had any real interest in learning, so Sensei decided that I could stay, and take the class for free, as long as I promised to be on time and work hard. He probably thought I'd get bored in a couple of weeks, like a lot of little kids do; but I lasted ten years. Finally got my black belt."**

The Yautja knew well of this long piece of fabric, which was the only thing Grey had left of her time on her own world, aside from her memories. The ooman had washed it carefully, before letting it dry and folding it up to store in the bottom drawer of the wardrobe in her room. Far more than just an accessory, it was her most precious treasure; she'd explained that it was a mark of her hard work and skill in this "karate", as it was called.

"**He must have been very good instructor, and a true and honorable warrior, to have defended you so. In a fair fight, perhaps he would have prevailed." **Ijane typed, before she'd realized that Grey might not know that she'd seen the footage of her capture, as well as her fight with the Bad Blood. Looking quickly at the ooman, the former Huntress saw that she was looking down at her hands, folded in her lap, tears streaming down her pale face, and biting her lip to keep it from trembling, but unable to stop her body from doing the same.

"_Damn fool…_" she scolded herself inside her head, seeing the misery on the pup's face. Clearly, she'd adored her teacher, and they'd obviously been more than simply instructor and pupil, judging by how she'd jumped up and embraced him in the footage.

Perhaps it was because she wanted to atone for her thoughtlessness in mentioning her charge's teacher, or maybe it was simply maternal instinct; but for whatever reason, Ijane, without thinking, got up from her chair and gently embraced the ooman pup, holding her head against her stomach and stroking her hair and beginning a rumbling purr as she cried. Yautja generally made this sound for two reasons: the first was to show contentment and pleasure; the second, common to females, and mothers in particular, was to comfort an upset youngling, and that was what Ijane did now, just as she had for her son so long ago.

And just like Kantra had done, Grey gradually calmed down, and Ijane went and got her a damp cloth to wipe her face, and neither saying anything more that evening.

As she lay in bed later on, Ijane thought how strange it was that she had offered such comfort to the ooman pup, who had only been with her a few days. But during that time, the two had gotten along so well that, when she saw the younger female was so upset, the old instincts had roared back to life. It could have gone badly, she realized. She could easily have offended or frightened the ooman, but instead, she'd accepted Ijane's embrace, and it had calmed her. She'd heard Grey crying and muttering in her sleep at night, of course; but hadn't brought it up, not wanting to embarrass her.

"_She's grieving."_ the Yautja told herself.

Ijane knew of grief, and the only thing to be done was to let it work itself out in its own time.

With these thoughts, she rolled over, and was soon asleep.

**0000000000**

Grey was still stunned by what had happened in the kitchen. She'd expected her caretaker to offer a few comforting words, or a hand on her shoulder; but nothing had prepared her for such a show of compassion.

"_It was…nice…"_ she thought. Maybe that was the kind of thing mothers did? Her own mother must have comforted her when she'd cried as a baby; but Grey only had the vaguest memories of her parents, so who really knew? Emilia had always tried to be kind to all the girls in her care; but she was often tired, or busy, and really couldn't give each one the kind of maternal care that so many of them secretly craved.

It was weird that she'd had to come all the way across the galaxy just to experience a little affection from another female; and not even a human one!

But then again, her life had been pretty weird recently, so…


	12. Chapter 12

**Enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to leave a review!**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other copyrighted or trademarked material! All I own are my own original characters and story ideas!**

**Chapter 12**

True to his word, Vi'ren showed up a couple of days later, drawing the attention of many of the village's females, who, upon demanding to know why a strange male would come among them, wanted to know if it was indeed true that an ooman now resided with Ijane. Many of them had heard the story secondhand from their friends and various pups, who ran around the village telling anyone who would listen that an odd-looking creature was spotted with Lady Ijane and her Arbitrator son, and the former had taken the creature to her house, where it hadn't been seen since. Most of these pups were too young to really know what an ooman was, but they did know that Lady Ijane's guest was certainly no Yautja.

When Vi'ren had confirmed this, the gossip began in earnest, and several of the females and pups crowded around Ijane's house, trying to get a glimpse of Grey, until the former Huntress had to go out and shoo them away, finally telling them, in an exasperated tone, that yes, she had an ooman female with her, and that they'd all get their chance to get their fill of gawking when she was well enough to start going about the village. This satisfied them, for the time being, and they left, which allowed Vi'ren to get to the business of giving Grey another examination.

Ijane kept a close eye on the Healer as he proceeded to check on her charge's wounds, which he said were healing nicely. He noted that she looked far better-nourished than when he'd previously encountered her, and remarked that Ijane must have been feeding her well. The Yautja female, who took immense pride in her cooking, nodded at the compliment, but said nothing as the examination continued. Vi'ren asked some questions of Grey, and she managed to answer some of them in Yautja, which both surprised and impressed him that any ooman could learn the language. By the end of his visit, he deemed Grey fit to go out into the village, during the early mornings and evenings, because the heat of the Homeworld during this time of year could be detrimental to her health.

"They really are surprisingly delicate creatures. A little too much heat or cold can seriously impact their health. Be sure to remember that." he told Ijane, as Grey got re-dressed.

Ijane, who had Hunted oomans in the past, knew all too well of the paradoxical eccentricities of the _pyode amedha_; they were capable of great bravery and acts of cunning, but a bit of inclement weather could kill them as easily as any Hunter's weapon.

But this, she thought resolutely, wouldn't happen with Grey, if she could possibly help it. Her son was counting on her, after all…

Vi'ren took another blood sample, asked if Grey had any questions, bade both females goodbye, and left.

It was only a couple of hours later that Ijane received a message from her mother, Di'Sedi, who told her that they'd been held up at the Great Temple by the weather in that part of the region, and were going to be home the following day. Ijane told her mother that there was something very important they needed to discuss when she got home, and left it at that, not wanting to upset the older female, and possibly bring a number of outsiders to the Lakeshore Village, hoping to see Grey.

When she told the ooman of this newest development, she became nervous, ringing her hands and frowning as she began to pace the stone tiles in the living room.

"**Don't worry so; just be respectful and answer her questions truthfully. As I said before, she is quite open-minded."** Ijane reassured Grey, who smiled weakly and nodded, though still looked a bit anxious.

**0000000000**

The next day, Ijane changed into a long, flowy blue dress, tying her long plaits back in a matching scarf, while Grey wore a light green skirt and a wide band of brown fabric for a top, both of which the Yautja had made for her, along with the new sandals that the crafter had finally finished, having been busy repairing one of the village's large laundry machines. These sandals were made of several layers of thick leather, each layer alternating with a layer of d'lex, a Yautja-made material that was both strong and flexible, at Ijane's request. There were two simple straps that held them on the foot, and Grey said that they were very comfortable, and that she'd missed wearing shoes, after more than a month of being barefoot. Nothing could be done about her hair, though, as it was still far to short; but Ijane ran her fingers through it a couple of times, thinking that she'd have to find a brush and comb before too much longer.

Once both were ready, they set out through the village toward the largest of the domed buildings, where Matriarch Di'Sedi resided, to await her arrival.

As they walked, Grey tried to keep her eyes averted from the many Yautja who stared at her, focusing instead on keeping up with Ijane, and repeating what she'd said the previous day inside her head:

"_Be respectful, and answer truthfully… Be respectful, and answer truthfully…"_

Yeah, she could do that.

Di'Sedi's home was larger than the others, but not by a lot. The yard was neatly kept, with an assortment of strange-looking flowers bordering the walkway that led up to the front door. Upon reaching this door, Ijane was let in by a female servant in a plain beige strapless dress, who took the pair of them to a kind of parlor to await the Matriarch's return.

The servant wanted to know if they'd like anything to eat, all the while trying to seem nonchalant about trying to get a good look at Grey over Ijane's shoulder. Ijane didn't want anything, and Grey was too nervous to eat, anyway, so this offer was politely refused.

Once she was certain that Grey was settled, Ijane informed her that she'd have to go and await her mother's return at the village gates, as was proper, and that she'd send for her when it was time for the Matriarch to talk to her. Grey was a little unsure about being alone here, but a few encouraging words from her caretaker bolstered her confidence, and Ijane left.

With nothing else to do, Grey sat on a cushion by a window that looked out over the sparkling green-blue lake, and waited.

Finally, another servant, wearing the same kind of strapless beige dress as the first, came to inform the human that the Matriarch and her family had arrived at the house, and that it shouldn't be too long before she was sent for. Grey bowed her thanks, and when the servant left, began to pace nervously once again…

**0000000000**

Ijane's mother was a welcome sight to her, as always.

The female, who looked very much like her younger daughter, was wearing a long, pale yellow robe today, her plaits swinging freely as she walked. A little behind her, dressed in a similar robe of light blue, came Ijane's older sister Mjadi. With her reddish-brown skin, long black plaits and piercing green eyes, she was considered exceptionally beautiful and elegant among the many males who yearly tried to gain her attention. Walking beside his mother was the young male, Nanku, who was a pale green, with dark brown mottling, and his mother's startlingly green eyes. It was this youngling with whom Grey would be training.

"Mother, Mjadi, Nanku… How was your journey?" Ijane asked, as they approached.

"It was quite pleasant, save for that bit of weather at the end. The temple grounds are as beautiful as ever, and the dances were especially well-performed this year, despite your absence." the Matriarch said.

"An absence which didn't go unnoticed by the High Priestess, I might add. She was quite disappointed when she learned that you weren't going to be participating in this year's Huntress' Dance, sister." Mjadi added, with a small smile, and the group began to walk back through the village, nodding to the females and pups who bowed respectfully as they passed.

"I haven't been a proper Huntress in a long time. Even so, I had my reasons for remaining here." Ijane said.

"And how is my Arbitrator grandson? No doubt he stayed here all of five minutes again?" Di'Sedi inquired knowingly, and behind her, Ijane saw her sister's mandibles twitch slightly, but chose to ignore it as they were bowed through the doors of Di'Sedi's house by her servants, who hurried off to fetch refreshments for their returning Matriarch and her family.

"Kantra's fine. Actually, his visit merits a discussion, Mother…" Ijane said, as they entered the large main room of her mother's private dwelling, which was a separated by a corridor from the rooms in which she conducted Clan business.

"Run along, Nanku; we have adult matters to discuss, it seems." Mjadi told her son, with a sigh. It was apparent that the reddish female had hoped to take in a bit of relaxation before getting back to the day-to-day business of assisting her mother with the running of the Clan, but her plans had been thwarted by her insistent little sister.

Nanku nodded to his mother, then his aunt and grandmother, and went off, probably to go find his friends in the makeshift little kehrite in the forest that all the young males thought no one knew about, leaving the three females to settle on cushions and begin their talk.

"Now, what is so urgent, Ijane?" Di'Sedi asked, as the servants returned and set hot tea and sliced naxa fruit before them.

"Well, Kantra came by a few days ago, Mother; but he…he didn't come alone…" Ijane began hesitantly.

"That'll be a first, then." Di'Sedi chuckled.

"He brought with him a pup-" the former Huntress began, and both females nearly choked on the tea they'd just began drinking.

"A pup, you say? Was it…_his_?" Mjadi inquired, now truly interested in the conversation.

"No, I'm _quite_ sure she isn't his. The pup in question is…well… The pup is an ooman…" Ijane finished quietly.

Now both females really did choke, and it took a lot of gasping and back-slapping to finally get everyone breathing correctly again.

"An _ooman_? You said an _ooman_, Ijane?" Mjadi asked, wiping her mouth on a napkin as she gawped at her younger sister in astonishment.

"Yes. She's around fifteen, I think. Her name is Grey, she's been living with me for several days, and she's waiting in the antechamber down the hall."

The other two females looked at each other, clearly shocked beyond believing this tale, until Di'Sedi spoke up.

"If that's true, Ijane, how did she come to be here?"

Ijane then gave a brief explanation of Grey's capture, her time on the Bad Bloods' Hunting planet, her killing of the largest one, Kantra's taking her aboard his ship, and then to his Clan's mothership, and finally, the Arbitrator's future plans for her, should things work out the way he hoped.

"So, that's it, basically. He wants me to take care of her and train her until she's old enough to join his Clan." she finished, looking at her sister and mother.

Di'Sedi sat back on her cushion, deep in thought, for several minutes, while Mjadi spoke up.

"But if word gets out, we'll have the entirety of our race at the gates, wanting to see the child! This Clan will become some sort of perverse attraction for sightseers!" she said.

Mjadi, as the eldest of Di'Sedi's daughters, was being trained by her mother to take over as Matriarch of the Lakeshore Clan, once she retired. As Di'Sedi was still a relatively young female, by Yautja standards, Mjadi would receive her instructions for many years to come. Though she didn't get to make big decisions yet, she was allowed to sit in on meetings between her mother and other members of their Clan, and hear the wisdom of the older females, so that one day, she might use what she'd learned to run things on her own. Already, she showed a great aptitude for this work, and a fierce dedication to protecting the honor and reputation of her family and Clan.

"Enough, Mjadi; I don't think it'll be as bad as that." Di'Sedi said, and her oldest child grew silent, then the Matriarch turned to her younger daughter.

"Kantra wishes you to look after and train this ooman, correct? He will provide for any of her needs that may arise?"

"He swore he would, and I've never known my son to lie." Ijane agreed.

"You think you can keep her out of trouble until she goes off to her basic training? You can keep her from causing problems around the village, as well as in your own home?"

"She hasn't caused any so far. She seems quite introverted, actually, and she's been very helpful and obedient. Once she's a little stronger, I intend to begin training her alongside Nanku."

"Don't you think that might be…_problematic_, seeing as how he may very well Hunt her kind in the future?" Mjadi asked.

Ijane hadn't actually thought of this; but it could indeed become an issue between the two of them. She'd seen Grey's eyes linger on the ooman trophies in her main room, and had to wonder what the pup was thinking each time she saw them.

"I'll try to face that problem as it arises; I can promise nothing else in that regard." she said solemnly.

"Does she have no family of her own to return to?" Mjadi asked, and seeing the displeasure in her sister's face, added:

"Don't misunderstand; as a mother, I'm sympathetic to the child's plight. However, I just wondered if this is the only option Kantra had, or just some spur-of-the-moment idea that seemed interesting at the time."

"She told me she has no family left to her, and doesn't want to return to her planet, because there would be no way to explain her absence. If she can't stay here, she has nowhere else to go." Ijane said.

Di'Sedi, upon hearing this, sighed heavily. She'd been listening silently to her daughters, debating on what to do, and had now reached a decision, it seemed.

"If that's true, then she may remain here. You will train her, take care of her and teach her as though she were your own daughter, Ijane; for essentially, that is what she will be, from today onward. Any honor or disgrace she brings to our Clan will be passed along to you. Are you certain that you wish to pursue this Path?" Di'Sedi asked, looking seriously at her daughter.

"I am, Mother." she said, resolutely.

"Then so be it. Do you have anything to add, Mjadi?" the older female asked her other daughter, who shook her head.

"I do not, Mother. If you think it's best that she remain, then I'll trust your judgment. If she makes no trouble for the Clan, I'll say nothing against her." she said. One thing Ijane had always admired about her sister was her sense of fairness; though she may not be thrilled about Grey's remaining among them, she would, at least, make no trouble for the ooman.

Di'Sedi nodded approvingly at her elder daughter, and then turned back to the younger one.

"I'd like to talk with the child, alone, if it's all right with you, Ijane. I'd like to get a sense of her character for myself, before making the announcement to the village." she said.

"Yes, Mother. I'll go and get her." Ijane agreed, and as she rose, so did Mjadi, and the pair walked out into the hall together.

"Thank you, for raising no objections to this." Younger female said quietly.

"I just hope you know what you're doing, _mei-jadhi_." Mjadi said, putting a hand briefly on Ijane's shoulder, before turning and walking away, her robes fluttering behind her.

**0000000000**

Grey had ceased her pacing and was looking out the window, trying to ignore the fact that the servants had walked by the open door several more times than they would probably have done on a normal day, trying to get a better look at her without drawing too much notice in the process.

It wasn't then, surprising to her when she heard another set of clawed feet coming down the hallway; but when she turned around, she saw that it was Ijane standing before her, already typing a message on her tablet.

"**The meeting with my mother went well. She wants to speak with you for awhile, Grey, if you'll come along with me."**

The human nodded and followed behind the Yautja, taking heart in the fact that Ijane seemed happy (Grey was still new to reading Yautja facial expressions) with the result of her meeting with her mother.

They stopped at a large door, and Ijane stood aside and typed:

"**She wants to see you alone. Don't worry; I'll be right out here."**

She must have noticed the worried expression on Grey's face, because she put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, before nodding encouragingly and pressing the panel for the door to open and handing the human the other tablet, and Grey walked into the room beyond.

As she looked around, she saw that this room was large, but had a kind of homey feeling. As with Ijane's home, there were several cushions arranged around a low table in the center of the room, and a couple of other tables with regular chairs, both of which were situated near the large windows, which, like the one in the parlor, looked out onto the gorgeous lake beyond. In the middle of this room, at the table, sat a female Yautja who looked startlingly like a slightly older version of Ijane, and Grey caught herself hoping that she aged half so gracefully as these aliens seemed to.

Passing one of the tables on her way to stand before the Matriarch, Grey saw that, spread out on one of the larger tables was what she thought might be some kind of game. A large board with painted landscapes, divided into a complex-looking grid, and many small, rectangular tiles and a few differently-colored stones sat in some kind of formation on this board, and Grey had to take care not to stare at it for too long, lest she seem rude, and hurried along.

When she got to the table where Matriarch Di'Sedi sat, she sat the tablet before her on the table, which made the older female cock her head curiously, and Grey typed an explanation on her own device:

"**This is a translator that Kwei, the quartermaster of the Thwei-Luar-ke Clan made for me. I can't speak a lot of Yautja yet; but Ijane's been teaching me every day."**

At first, she wondered if the Matriarch would be able to figure out how the tablet worked; but soon she, like her daughter and grandson, had the hang of using it.

"**I am Di'Sedi, Matriarch and leader of the Lakeshore Clan. As you've probably already been told, I am also Ijane's mother, and Kantra's grandmother. It is I who decided that you may remain among us, so long as you behave yourself, and do as my daughter instructs you."** she typed.

Grey bowed low, before responding.

"**My name is Grey. Arbitrator Kantra found me when I was taken from my home by those you call Bad Bloods, and brought me here to be trained by your daughter. I'm very grateful that you're allowing me to stay here."**

"**You realize that, intended or not, your very presence is a disruption to the females and pups who reside here? I like things to be quiet and simple here, and I expect that you will do your utmost to stay out of trouble and don't draw unnecessary attention to yourself while you remain here**."

"**I understand that, ma'am. Believe me, I don't want to be the center of anyone's attention."** Grey responded.

"**And I wonder if my grandson thought of that when he left you here? Did he explain to you the dangers of the life you're training to lead? Did he tell you that could possibly die before you even make it to your initiation Hunt? Once you're in basic training, your teacher has the right to kill you, if he feels that you're not performing to his standards, or that you will be an embarrassment to the Yautja."**

Kantra _hadn't_ told her this, and the look on her face must have shown it, for Di'Sedi then typed:

"**This is a right that is rarely invoked, you understand; but it has happened. My daughter said you were fifteen, correct?"**

"**Yes, ma'am."**

"**To put all that on one so young…one who hasn't been brought up to understand our ways… What was he thinking? He's either lost his mind…or he truly believes in your skills, ooman Grey. I would like to think the latter is true, personally."**

Grey sat there, keeping her eyes respectfully averted from the female, and remained still and silent.

"**But, if anyone can hone your skills, it would be Ijane. Her training went a long way toward making Kantra an Arbitrator. He began his life as a Hunter with a far more advanced skillset than any of the others of his age, and any edge she can give you will benefit you greatly."** Di'Sedi typed.

"**Is she that good?"** Grey wanted to know.

"**She was the pride of the all-female Clan of which she was a member. She stopped Hunting, after Kantra was born; but she's never let herself lose her edge, even after all these years."**

Even though she was typing, and not saying the words aloud, Grey saw the immense pride on the Matriarch's face, and she knew she was in good hands with Ijane.

"**So, I can stay here then?"** she typed, not knowing what else to say.

"**You may. From today onwards, Ijane will be your guardian, until you come of age, or Kantra says differently. I will, however, expect you to come here regularly, and give me reports on your progress, and I'll make sure to tell all the females of the village to report directly to me if they catch you doing anything you ought not do."**

"**That's fair**." Grey agreed, and the Matriarch handed her back the tablet, and made a gesture that she could leave.

She felt lighter than she had while walking through the village to Di'Sedi's home, and once she and Ijane had arrived back home, they sat down at the table and discussed what happened during the meeting.

Ijane revealed that while she'd waited outside in the hall, she'd been mentally planning out a training schedule for Grey, and hoped to get started as soon as Vi'ren gave the all-clear.

Grey was really looking forward to that; she had a lot of shit to work through…


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, everybody! Lucky Chapter 13!**

**Please don't forget to leave a review so I know people are still reading this story! I love to hear from you guys!**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other copyrighted or trademarked material! All I own are my original characters and story ideas!**

**Chapter 13**

By the next afternoon, word had gotten around the Lakeshore Village that the elusive ooman living with Lady Ijane had been given permission to reside there, by none other than the Matriarch herself.

The females of the village, though still quite curious, didn't really seem to mind Grey's presence, so long as she didn't make trouble for them, and remembered her manners.

It was on the second day after Di'Sedi's decision that Ijane decided that the time had come for Grey to make her first "official" appearance in the village, and introduce herself to as many of the females as she could. This village, Ijane told her, was now _her_ village, this Clan, _her_ Clan, and she needed to become as familiar with the inhabitants as she could; or, as familiar as they'd _allow_ her to be.

"**I doubt they'd try to harm you outright."** Ijane had typed, while Grey was getting dressed that morning, obviously thinking that this was some kind of encouragement.

Even so, before they left, the former Huntress went over the basics of Yautja etiquette with her one last time:

"**If anyone speaks to you?"**

"**Introduce myself politely; but only if they speak to me first."**

"**Good. And if they ask you questions?**"

"**Answer truthfully, but keep it simple and respectful."**

"**And what else?"**

"**Eyes lowered, hands visible at all times, don't fidget around, don't move too fast, don't give them any reason to think I'm acting shifty."**

"**And?"**

"**Stay close to you. You'll translate for me, if I need it, but try to speak Yautja as often as I can."**

"**Perfect. Now, let's be on our way."**

Ijane had decided the previous night that Grey's first foray into the village should be something simple; and decided on a trip to the small market in the village's center.

Really, "market" was a generous word for the small area where several females had various fruits, vegetables and sundry items for sale or trade.

Ijane had explained to Grey that, while the Yautja _did_ have their own sort of digital currency, a good deal of commerce, especially in small villages like this one was done by bartering. There were, of course, places that produced armor and weapons _en masse_, but many of these were almost completely automated.

"**Are there Yautja workers? I mean, are there people who do manual labor and day-to-day jobs?"** Grey had wanted to know. Somehow, she couldn't imagine someone like Kantra working in an office, or in construction.

"**There are; but many of them are looked down upon by certain members of our society."** Ijane had typed.

"**Why?"** Grey wanted to know.

"**Well, as you know, the Hunt is a very large part of our culture; it always has been, even before we began to explore beyond our Homeworld. Only the strongest Hunters can hope to gain any rank and prestige, and most females will only seek out the best of the best to sire their offspring. That being said, there are those, mostly males, you understand, who don't choose the Hunter's Path."**

"**Why wouldn't they? Kantra made it seem like the Hunt was the only way for a Yautja to live."**

"**Some are too weak, or cowardly, or have no talent for it, and realized it early enough that they could find another occupation, rather than risk shaming themselves and their families. Some of them have been crippled during their own Hunts, but still want to be useful, and retain what honor they have left. There are those who remain in the bowels of Clan ships, too low of status to be seen as anything but a burden, too untalented to make a name and reputation for themselves doing something else, and too cowardly to take their own lives. Some of them are even former Hunter who have lost their honor, due to their own faults; yes, that can happen. They reside in filthy slums, grubbing out an existence and subsisting on whatever scraps they can get. These poor, wretched creatures are rarely treated kindly by many of our kind."**

Grey remembered the Thwei-Luar-ke's quartermaster, Kwei, who had made her the translator she was currently using, and mentioned him to Ijane.

"**Kantra has spoken of him a few times. He is, I think, one of those who have managed to find his niche and escape the fate that has befallen so many before him. If a Yautja shows talent in a particular field or craft, other than Hunting, he can gain notoriety and respect; though likely, he will never be sought after by females for procreation. Healers, for example, are some of these."**

Grey's face must have shown her distaste for such a social structure, for Ijane then typed:

"**Our world is not one for the weak, Grey. You have chosen this Path. Remember that."**

It was strange to think about these things as she walked out into the sunny village, where the shouts, growls and chirps of Yautja children filled the air. How many of them, she wondered, would end up as Ijane had described, living a beggar's existence in the bowels of some Clan ship, or on the streets of one of the four or five large cities on this planet? Then again, how many would die, alone, on some far-flung world, in their almost single-minded pursuit of honor?

She had to get her mind off that, and concentrated on today's mission, as it were; obtain foodstuffs from the market, and try not to piss anyone off or make a jackass out of herself.

Simple.

**0000000000**

Ijane loved the market in the early morning.

There were no proper stalls here, as might be found in other, larger villages. Instead, the females who wanted to sell and trade their wares simply gathered beneath an enormous old tree, spread out large rugs and placed baskets of produce, cloth, leather, pottery, woven baskets, various jewelry and ornamental items, and a variety of other things on them. The female would then take up her position, sitting in the middle of the rug, or on a stool, surrounded by her baskets of items, and wait for potential patrons to wander by. Some of them, who had been too late to get prime spots in the shade, had brought simple cloth awnings along with them, and several of these stood out in bright colors against the plain dirt of the village's center.

Everywhere, small pups, who by ancient custom went naked until about four or five, ran around, screaming and chasing each other around the tree or else clinging shyly to their mothers' skirts and dress tails, their older counterparts, (of around six through twelve) stood in groups with others of their ages, trying to look grown-up and dignified, compared to the screaming younglings darting madly about.

Those pups (though, they could barely be called that anymore) of fourteen and above generally didn't attend market-days; instead, the males went to their "secret" kehrite, and the females spend their time down by the lake, talking about hair and clothes, complaining about mothers, siblings and household chores, and daydreaming of the fine Hunters who would one day fell Hard Meat Queens, just for the chance of being chosen as a mate by one of them.

Shifting the basket she'd brought along with her to carry the goods she intended to procure, Ijane looked quickly behind her, to make sure that Grey was staying close. She was, looking almost like she wanted to emulate the littlest pups and hold on to her skirt. Vaguely, she wondered if Grey's caretaker back on her planet had taken the time to properly socialize her; but there would be plenty of time for that.

"Ijane!"

Nuini came hurrying over to her, holding her youngest daughter in her arms, while her youngest son, Ijane assumed, was tucked safely in the cloth sling on his mother's back. Her other children, save for the oldest two who still lived at home, came scurrying along behind her, trying not to get separated.

"I haven't seen you in the village since you borrowed Ha'vna'di's clothes; what have you-" she began to ask, but then saw Grey behind her.

"Sweet gods, I can't believe it!" she said, almost breathless with fascination, as she looked behind her friend, her brown eyes wide.

Reaching behind her, Ijane gently ushered Grey forward, letting Nuini get a better view of her.

It was good, she thought, that Grey's first encounter with one of the village's inhabitants would be with Nuini; she was generally a calm, laid-back female, and very patient and gentle…for a Yautja.

"She doesn't speak our language fluently yet; but she can understand some words and simple phrases." the former Huntress said, as Grey bowed politely; an ooman custom that would serve her well here, she thought.

"_Gkaun-yte."_ Nuini said quietly.

"_Gkaun-yte."_ Grey said, returning the greeting.

Ijane took the translator out of the pouch around her waist and typed:

"**This is my longtime friend, Nuini, and her pups."**

Grey smiled again, and, gesturing to herself said:

"Grey. Luna Grey."

"Lungrey?" Nuini asked, cocking her head.

"Luna Grey." she said, speaking slowly and clearly.

"What is a "Luna"?" Ijane typed, curious as to this addition to her charge's name.

"Luna's my first name; Grey's my surname. Don't Yautja have family names?" Grey responded, looking puzzled.

"We don't. If we're introducing ourselves, we might say "I am so-and-so, of the so-and-so Clan", followed by a few of our accomplishments, or our sire's name, or such as that."

"I didn't know… Please tell her I didn't mean for any confusion. There's a lot I have to learn."

Ijane explained briefly what had happened, and Nuini nearly laughed at the idea of someone having a two-part name like that.

"They are peculiar; but I think I like this one." Nuini said, looking with approval at Grey.

Her young daughter, Chu'tdi, seemed to be even more fascinated by Grey than her mother; for she'd been staring, almost unblinkingly, at Grey this entire time, and suddenly reached out, as though wishing for the ooman to hold her.

Grey looked shocked, while Nuini looked quite amused, and offered the child to her to hold. Several of the other females, who had all gathered around, once they'd seen who was in their midst, began to whisper amongst themselves, and waited to see what the ooman would do.

Reaching out, she carefully took the little one in her arms, but looked like she hadn't quite expected the child to be so large. It took her a moment to get used to the weight, and finally, she was able to shift little Chu'tdi into a more comfortable position for them both.

The pup immediately began peering intently into Grey's face, then reached up and gently prodded her nose, which Yautja didn't have, then proceeded to curiously pat her mouth, searching for the mandibles the ooman didn't have. Clearly, the pup was intrigued by this mismatched creature who was currently holding her, and this greatly amused the surrounding females, some of whom began to laugh at such a spectacle.

Taking their lead from their little sister, Nuini's other pups went over to crowd around Grey, chattering excitedly as they examined her.

"You know, they're always complaining about having to come with me on market days; but this time, I think they've found something that interests them." Nuini mused, watching her children.

"Your eldest daughters aren't here with you?" Ijane asked.

"Of course not; they're down by the lake, probably telling all their little friends how they narrowly escaped another boring trip to the market with their mother. As much as I care for them, I'm beginning to look forward to when they come of age and get their own homes. Let them do their own cooking, washing and cleaning for awhile, and they'll see how good they had it with only a few chores every day." Nuini said, with a huff of annoyance.

"I never thought of those two as lazy…" Ijane said thoughtfully.

"Not lazy, really; it's just that every time I tell them to do something, they roll their eyes, or sigh loudly or have some smart comment that they don't think I hear as they walk off. I must ask; has the ooman been the same with you? She's not much younger than my two daughters, if what you've told me is true; does she put up a fuss about housework?"

"Actually, she's been surprisingly helpful. Apparently, she was used to doing chores on her own world, and for far more than just two people, and the work I give her is simple, so she does as she's told."

"I wish mine were half as diligent… Maybe I should get an ooman of my own, eh?" Nuini joked, and the two shared a laugh, but then Ijane became serious.

"But even after what she's been through, with the Bad Bloods, I can tell she's eager for me to begin training her." she said.

"How long is she going to be staying with you?"

"According to Kantra, about ten years. I tried to explain to him that oomans don't live nearly as long as we do; but he said that the Healer Vi'ren "has an idea" about that."

"What kind of idea?" Nuini asked, interestedly.

"I don't know, I-"

Ijane was cut off by the sound of Grey's voice from behind them.

"Ijane! Nuini! _Help_!" she called, in Yautja.

Both females spun quickly around to find that Grey was now completely surrounded by pups and a few of the more curious females, who were all trying to get a better look at her, some of the pups asking her endless streams of questions, obviously unaware that she could neither understand, nor respond to them.

Cursing herself for her inattention, Ijane, followed quickly by Nuini, made their way through the crowd to rescue the ooman, telling off a few of the adult females for crowding her so, while Nuini gathered her own brood from among the mass of pups, who were scattering in all directions.

"Come along, all of you; and I don't want to hear one word of backtalk!" the female said sternly, as her children fell in behind her. Grey carefully handed over little Chu'tdi, who was now absolutely fascinated with the ooman's hair, and kept trying to run her little hands over the short locks, laughing at the strange texture.

"Please thank your friend for letting me hold her child, Ijane." Grey typed, and Ijane translated the gratitude for Nuini, who was pleased with the ooman's manners, and told Ijane this, and promised that she'd be by as soon as she could for a visit, which Ijane always looked forward to.

Once Nuini and her brood had left, Ijane went about the business of getting the produce she'd come for; some of which she really did want to use for a stew she was planning for dinner.

Nearly every adult female in the village had her own small garden beside or behind her house, and they all took the time to carefully tend them, pulling weeds, watering, fending off hungry forest critters and over-curious pups, who went everywhere and got into everything. These gardens produced a number of the fruits and vegetables that the Lakeshore Clan consumed; though a good deal of other foods came from the jungle surrounding the village. Females who had harvested more than they could eat themselves would store some of the food for later use, in storehouses in their backyards; any that remained would likely be traded on market days for other things they needed.

Walking around the market, Ijane soon had her basket nearly full of succulent vegetables, and as she passed a female displaying large pieces of freshly-tanned hides, she decided to go ahead and get a few of them, for Grey's training outfit, which she'd need before she began learning the basics of unarmed and armed combat.

For these things, she traded some of the beautifully-made hair ornaments that were her specialty, made from little shells from the lake's sandy shore, or small, pretty stones she'd found while hunting or gathering food in the jungle, drilled carefully with a tiny, precise laser, and strung on brightly-colored, braided strings, such as she sometimes wore in her own hair. Or, she would trade a kind of sweet-smelling oil that females liked to use, especially during the mating season, to make their skin and hair softer, which she made from certain jungle roots. Several other females also made similar concoctions; but it was widely agreed that Ijane's recipe yielded the best results.

It was too bad, she thought, that Grey had arrived with her hair in such a pitiable state; Ijane would have loved to braid it for her and adorn it with ornaments like the ones she traded for a beautiful piece of cream-colored hide.

Grey did as she'd been instructed, and suck close to her caretaker, keeping her eyes low and her hands folded demurely in front of her as she was led around. Several females spoke to Ijane as she did her shopping, and a few even ventured to greet Grey, who returned their greetings with a bow, which went over well with them, since they hadn't known what to expect from ooman.

By the time they'd finished, the sun was getting high in the sky, and Ijane thought it best that Grey, whose cheeks were beginning to show patches of red from the heat, be taken home.

"**You did very well today, Grey."** she said, as her charge sat at the table, drinking a large bowl of water that she'd just been handed.

"**I thought it went pretty good, too."** the ooman agreed.

"**Nuini seemed to take a liking to you right off."**

"**She seems nice. Were all those pups hers?"**

"**Five of them were."**

"**She has five children?"**

"**She has nine."**

Grey choked on her water, and Ijane had to gently pat her on the back several times before she stopped coughing.

"**Nine? You said nine?"** Grey typed, looking astounded and skeptical, and Ijane sat back down across from her to begin counting off Nuini's children.

"**She has two grown male children, as I said. They are named Radu and Keta-de, and are members of the Crashing Thunder Clan now. She has a seventeen-year-old daughter named Khir'di, and a sixteen-year-old daughter named Fa'an'di. Those two were probably off with the others of their ages down by the lake. Next is a twelve-year-old daughter named Ara'mi, and another daughter named Ha'vna'di, who's eight. A five-year-old daughter named Ve'kna, a three-year-old named Chu'tdi, who you were holding, and a son who is, perhaps three or four weeks old, called Dami. He was in a sling across her back, so you probably couldn't see him."**

"**Why so many?"**

"**She wanted them, I suppose. Most females only have anywhere from one to three, if they decide to have pups; but some females just want large families. I think it was seen as normal in the Clan she came from."**

"**Nuini didn't come from here? I thought a "Clan" meant that all the females and their children were related, maybe loosely, but they were related."**

"**Not necessarily. Many of the females you saw in the market have no blood ties whatsoever. We're free to move about, and settle down with any Clan we choose, as long as the Matriarch of that Clan approves. Some are very selective, while others only stipulate that a prospective member not be a Bad Blood."**

"**There are female Bad Bloods?"**

"**A few. Generally, a female would have to become a great disgrace to her Clan in order to be deemed a Bad Blood, as few females-too few, in my opinion-Hunt. Those who do become Huntresses are held to the same standards of behavior as the males."**

Grey was quiet, but then something seemed to occur to her.

"**A lot of the females' names end with an "i", don't they?"** Grey wondered.

"**It's considered somewhat more feminine; male names usually end with an "e" or "de", while female names are commonly ended with an "i", "ni" or "di". Nothing is set in stone, though."** she explained, with a small shrug.

This discussion of names brought something back to Ijane's mind, and she was quite intrigued by the concept, so she decided to ask:

"**When you introduced yourself to Nuini, you said your name was something, and then Grey?"**

It took the ooman a minute to figure out what she was trying to convey, but then seemed to realize what she was asking.

"**Most humans have what we call a first and a last name. My first name is Luna; it means "moon" in some of Earth's languages. Grey is the last name of my family. My mother's name was Cecilia Grey, and my father's is Kieran Grey."**

She got quite contemplative for a moment, then continued:

"**You know, my sensei used to call me "Tsuki-chan", when no one else was around."**

"**Ski-cha?"** Ijane tried to repeat, the ooman word sounding strange as she said it. Honestly, the Yautja hadn't been trying nearly as hard to learn ooman as the ooman was trying to learn Yautja, and she resolved to correct that.

"**Tsuki-chan. It's from his own language, called Japanese. "**_**Tsuki**_**" means "moon", and ending it with "-**_**chan**_**" is kind of a familiar, affectionate thing that people do in his culture."**

Ijane couldn't imagine her own teacher coming up with such an endearment, but let Grey continue.

"**It was kind of our secret, that he called me that. He called me that because there's no "L" sound in his language; so my first name sometimes came out as "Runa", instead of "Luna". He called me "Grey" in class, though, because the other kids always thought it was funny when he mispronounced his l's. I never thought it was funny, though, and I asked him to teach me Japanese when I was about eight. I worked really hard for months, but I finally got enough of a grasp to get by, if I ever went to Japan."**

She stopped typing then, her face showing that she'd probably never be able to visit the country of her teacher's birth; nor even return to the planet of her own. Ijane decided to change the subject, so she wouldn't become upset like she had the other night, and typed:

"**Luar-ke."**

Grey looked confused, and tilted her head slightly to indicate it.

"**Luar-ke. It's our word for "moon"."**

"**I like it."** Grey typed, smiling.

And from then on, to Ijane, at least, she was Luar-ke.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey, everybody!**

**Hope you guys are liking the story so far! Just keep the reviews coming; I love to hear from you!**

**I think I should point out before the chapter begins that Ijane refers to Grey as Luar-ke, as a kind of affectionate nickname or pet name. I hope this clears up any confusion.**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP or any other copyrighted or trademarked material! All I own are my original characters and story ideas!**

**Chapter 14**

Grey awoke the next morning to find that Ijane wasn't sitting on the cushions in the main room and sewing, or making her hair ornaments, or sharpening one of her dozens of knives and swords. She wasn't cooking or washing dishes in the kitchen, either.

"_She might be outside, cooking on the fire…"_ the human thought, seeing the yellow glow of several of the other females' fires through the front window.

She was about to go outside and look for her caretaker, when the door to her room opened with a quiet _whoosh_, and she stepped into what Grey now considered to be the house's living room.

Ijane was clad in what Grey could only describe as a leather corset and short loincloth. The human was used to seeing the Yautja in long, flowy dresses and tunics; but this new outfit was so form-fitting that Grey was sure she'd been poured into it. What she found most amazing was how Ijane managed to pack her large breasts into that corset, and once again, felt a little self-conscious. Her hair was tied back from her face and bound with a long strip of leather, making one long, thick piece that would get in the way far less than her dozens of plaits. She was also wearing wristbands and leg guards made out of some kind of thick-looking, scaly brown hide, and a wide belt of woven leather strips of several different colors, and a kind of wide metal collar around her throat.

When she saw Grey looking at her with an open mouth, the former Huntress took the translator from her belt and began to type.

"**Good morning, Luar-ke. I was about to come and wake you up; Nanku's coming over soon for a training session."**

Grey was surprised and excited about this news.

"**Did Vi'ren give the okay for me to start?"** she typed, looking hopefully at the larger female.

"**No, not yet. You'll just be watching us until he decides it's all right for you to join. Come along and sit on the back porch."**

Grey did as she was told, and was soon sitting on the smooth planks of the house's roofed back porch, where Ijane kept a number of planters to supply her kitchen with the herbs she used to season their food.

In Ijane's backyard, where other females might have gardens (hers was at the side of the house), or small ornamental ponds, she'd built her own personal outdoor kehrite, where she trained daily in order to keep herself fit and her skills as sharp as the knives she routinely sharpened. A large square of hard-packed dirt served as the sparring area, and off to one side, a couple of weapon racks held wooden swords and staves, which she said were good for practice, as injuries would generally be limited to bruises and the occasional splinter. She had her own cache of weapons, of course; but most of them were far too valuable, both monetarily and sentimentally, to be left outside.

Grey watched in fascination as Ijane began to stretch herself, limbering up her muscles for the training session that was to come. For such a large creature, she was incredibly graceful, and Grey found herself hoping that she could be taught to be this way.

After around twenty minutes, they heard someone coming around the side of the house, and a young male Yautja, who Grey hadn't seen before (one of many in the village, probably, she thought), made his way to stand before the female.

Though it was still dark out, Grey could see by the bright moonlight that this Yautja was a sort of pale green, with brown or maybe black mottling, and was wearing a simple, day-to-day loincloth, and his hair hung just below his broad shoulders. She saw his mandibles flare wide as he yawned, clearly having only just woken up himself. Though he wasn't as tall or muscular as the Young Bloods on the Clan ship, he still looked like he could put up a pretty decent fight.

"_He's Kantra's cousin…"_ the human thought, but the age difference between the two just seemed so weird to her; surely they hadn't grown up together? But then, hadn't she been told that Arbitrators were usually Elders or Elite Hunters who were bored with Hunting regular prey? Kantra was nowhere near as old as Elder Yeyinde; then again, she had no idea about the Yautja aging process.

These musings came to an end when Ijane beckoned Grey to her…

**0000000000**

Ijane had decided that it was time she resume her training with her nephew. She'd been busy with Luar-ke these past few days, and hadn't been able to keep up their regular schedule; but now she was ready to get back to business.

Mjadi had come to her a couple of months ago, soon after her son's seventeenth nameday, and asked that she begin training him, for it would only be another couple of years until he left to begin his new life as a Hunter. Though she'd tried to hide it, Ijane had seen the worry in her elder sister's face, and had agreed to teach her nephew the skills he'd need to survive.

So, Nanku had begun coming to her home every day, and with Ijane's diligent efforts, had begun to show some promise with hand-to-hand combat. She'd also taken him with her into the jungle a couple of times, to show him the basics of tree-climbing, tracking and stealth. With her throwing knife, she'd killed a couple of the smaller, rodent-like creatures that scurried about, and demonstrated to Nanku the proper way to skin, prepare and cook his food over a small, nearly-smokeless fire.

"But can't we just eat it raw?" he'd asked, watching as she'd pushed a twig through the chunks of meat and laid them over the fire.

"This is a skill you must learn, Nanku. Your mother will not be there to cook for you, once you leave for your training. You have to learn to take care of yourself." she'd replied.

He'd progressed well; though not as quickly as Kantra had at his age. Then again, Kantra was more…motivated… Still, she was pleased with how her nephew was doing.

Now, she wanted Luar-ke to begin watching them, and when Vi'ren _finally_ gave them the all-clear, she'd begin teaching the ooman alongside Nanku. She didn't doubt that his mother had told him of these new "arrangements"; and wanted to set down the ground rules right now, especially after Kantra had told her what happened with the Young Bloods aboard his Clan ship.

"Nanku, this is Grey, though I call her Luar-ke. As requested by your cousin, Kantra, I am training her to become a Huntress when she comes of age. I intend to have you partner with her for certain exercises in the future, and she will be your sparring partner, once she's fit to start her own training. You are not to purposefully harm her in any way, in or out of this kehrite. If I find out that you have done so, you'll not only deal with me, but your grandmother and cousin, since she's under his protection. I'll also discontinue your training with me, and leave you to your fate once you come of age. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes, Aunt Ijane!" Nanku stammered, seeing the seriousness in his aunt's face.

"Good. I fully expect you to act with the honor and dignity that have come to be associated with our family and Clan. Do not shame yourself by doing something foolish."

And she turned to Luar-ke, and began to type on her translator.

"This is Nanku, Luar-ke. He's my nephew, as you know, and I'm getting him ready for when he comes of age, just as I'm doing for you. I plan to occasionally have the pair of you spar together, along with other training exercises. He's been learning from me for a couple of months now, but I think you'll catch up quickly."

Luar-ke stepped forward tentatively and gave a little bow and a good-natured, but slightly nervous, smile. Nanku cocked his head a bit, and Luar-ke reached out to gently shake his shoulder in the traditional Yautja greeting. This gesture, Nanku understood, and returned it, before turning back to his aunt.

"Are you sure about this, Aunt Ijane? She's so…small…" he said, sizing up the other female.

"She killed a Bad Blood who was three times her size; she can handle some basic training." Ijane assured him, with a nod to the ooman.

"Mother told me she killed one of the Banished Ones' Bad Blood outcasts; but honestly, I thought she had misheard what you told her…" he said, clearly impressed.

"No; it was just as I said. Kantra was there, and he witnessed it firsthand. He believes she has a great deal of potential to become a Huntress, and has given her to me, that I may train her as such. Now, let's get started; we're already three days behind, and that's three days you can't get back."

She had Luar-ke go back to the porch, where she sat and watched as Ijane began to spar with the young male, throwing him across the kehrite several times before he was able to begin blocking her attacks with any degree of success.

"Keep an eye on all my limbs, Nanku! The Hard Meat have two arms, two legs, two mouths, and a tail; I only have two arms and two legs, and you're still unable to avoid me!" she called out, sending him flying with a powerful kick, and heard his grunt as he hit the ground several _noks_ away, along with Luar-ke's groan.

"Y-yes, Aunt Ijane…" Nanku panted, getting back up and taking another run at the larger female, who easily sidestepped him, grabbed him by his plaited hair, and swung her leg out, knocking his feet out from under him from behind, from which he rose, panting harder.

"Think before you move! I could see that opening from orbit!"

Nanku let out an immature snort of laughter at this, and narrowly avoided a powerful kick.

"Focus! Your opponent isn't going to give you time to laugh at some perceived vulgarity!" Ijane snapped.

It went on like this for nearly three hours, until Ijane decided her nephew had been kicked around enough for today, and had Luar-ke bring them some cool water from the house.

"I know I'm hard on you, Nanku; but it's because I want to see you become something great. I don't just want your Hunts; I want you to triumph, and continue our bloodline." She said, as they drank deeply from the bowls, savoring the taste of the fresh water after a satisfying sparring session.

Once Nanku had gone home, covered in bruises, but taking pride in the fact that he'd managed to avoid a few of Ijane's blows, she went back in the house and took off her training armor, then took a hot shower. She put on a long, pale green dress and went back into the kitchen, and began preparing breakfast.

Luar-ke soon joined her, cutting up the naxa and boiling some of the roots Ijane had collected from the jungle to make tea for them both.

They cleaned the kitchen after breakfast, and Luar-ke, who needed more sleep than Ijane did, went back to nap for a little while, but only after making sure her caretaker didn't need her to do anything else first.

"She really sounds like a joy to have around the house." Nuini commented later that day, as the pair of them watched the ooman watering the plants in Ijane's garden.

"I'm planning to teach her how to collect _soki_ nuts and grind them into flour for n'eza bread soon. The other day, she took two pieces of it and put a slice of meat in between them! Have you ever heard of such a thing?" Ijane laughed.

"Inventive creatures, the oomans… Did you try the thing she made?" her friend asked, with interest.

"I did. It was quite good, actually. She called it a "_san'wich_", and said the oomans have a number of different varieties of them, and they're a very common meal on her planet."

At that point, Dami began to fuss around in his mother's arms, and Nuini excused herself to go nurse him, ending the conversation.

**000000000**

Grey had been greatly surprised by how easily Ijane had thrown her nephew around the kehrite; but she was also very impressed with the way her caretaker had so gracefully avoided his kicks and punches. She almost seemed to be…dancing, Grey thought, and was dumbfounded that such a creature could move like that.

Nanku had seemed okay with her presence; but they hadn't exactly had a getting-to-know-you conversation yet. The memory of the Young Bloods' torment was still pretty fresh in Grey's mind, though, and she was a bit wary of being left alone with him in the future.

She wasn't able to dwell on these worries much that day, for Ijane decided to take her to the edge of the immense jungle to collect what she called "_soki_", which were a kind of dark-brown nut, about the size of a walnut, from which she'd told Grey that the Yautja females made the flour that they turned into various baked goods, including n'eza bread.

So, they spent a good two hours filling their baskets with these nuts, Ijane teaching her how to tell the ripe ones from the unripe ones, and carried their haul back to the house. They then spread large cloths on the ground and laid the nuts in the sun to dry for a few days.

Grey was then taken inside and shown how Ijane made the pretty hair ornaments that she traded for the goods she didn't make or grow herself. She watched as the Yautja carefully used a laser to drill holes in a number of small shells and stones, and then tie them onto multi-colored strings, which she then plaited together into a complicated-looking round braid. She then set Grey to work learning a much simpler version of this, intending to have her help make these ornaments in the future.

"You have a good sense of color, Luar-ke." she said, and Grey blushed with the compliment.

She continued to watch Ijane and Nanku spar in the mornings, and soon another week had gone by. It was time, the older female decided, to begin making flour.

They collected the nuts from the cloths, and Ijane showed her how she could crack them in her bare hand. Grey, of course, couldn't do this, and had to resort to using a rock, like one of those monkeys on nature shows. It turned out that the soki nuts had an incredibly tough shell, and it took some time to perfect the art of cracking them open with one hit. She figured it out, though, and the two soon filled the bowl Ijane had brought from the kitchen with the shelled nuts.

The flour was made by grinding the nuts in a large stone mortar, using a pestle, also made of stone, to crush and grind them until they were a fine, light brown powder, which was collected and put into clay jars and corked with large wooden stoppers, to keep any moisture out.

Grey's arms were aching by the end of the day, but she had a strange sense of accomplishment each time she went in the pantry and saw the several clay jars of soki flour on the shelf…

**000000000**

Vi'ren came by three weeks later for another checkup, and at the end of it, declared that Grey could finally begin her training, much to her jubilation, and she let out a loud "WOO!" of joy.

Ijane had previously made Grey her own version of what she called her "training armor"; although Grey's wasn't quite as revealing, per her request.

She'd been so embarrassed as she'd stood there, naked, while Ijane had carefully measured and re-measured her for this outfit, making sure to get everything just right, since the kind of leather she'd be using was particularly good, and she didn't want to waste it.

"**Don't be silly; we're both females, and I have everything you have. There's nothing to be ashamed of."** Ijane had typed, as Grey kept trying to instinctively cover herself, very much aware of her far less-curvy figure.

"**Maybe. But you've got a lot more of it to not be ashamed of!"** she'd typed back, and Ijane trilled with laughter.

"**It has to be done this way; you don't wear anything under this armor."**

"**Will I be expected to go naked underneath when I start Hunting?"** Grey wanted to know.

"**No; that armor will cover less, and you can wear coverings beneath it. Males usually wear a kind of metal loincloth, and females do to; but they wear something over their chests too, of course. There's also the thermal mesh that provides warmth in colder climates, which I'm sure you'll need, too; and some boots, now that I think about it."**

Grey remembered how Ijane had told her that the higher-ranking Hunters were expected to handicap themselves, that is, limiting themselves to certain weapons and armor, before they set out. She wondered how this rule would be interpreted for her, since her needs were, apparently, so much different.

Now, she finally donned her leather armor for real, and walked out to the kehrite in the backyard, where Ijane and Nanku stood waiting.

"The armor fits?" Ijane asked, coming over to inspect her handiwork.

She'd begun to encourage Grey to speak in Yautja more frequently, mostly by confiscating the translator for a few hours a day, so she'd have to speak the alien language in order to be understood properly. Grey had also started to teach Ijane English, although it was only because the Yautja found it amusing, rather than actually needing to speak the human's tongue.

Nanku, too, had learned a few key human words that Ijane believed would help in the future, should he ever decide to visit Earth, though she didn't talk about that possibility much, knowing that it made her charge a bit uncomfortable.

At this point, Grey and Ijane could have short, simple conversations, and convey basic information. She was also charged with going on small errands for the older female, such as returning a basket to Nuini, or going to ask Mjadi what time Nanku would be coming over for dinner, on the occasions that he decided to eat with them, and get in some extra practice.

"Yes, ma'am." Grey replied.

"You are ready? Are you certain?"

"I am."

"Then let's begin."

For the past month, she'd been practicing her karate movements indoors, in the large, open space in the living room, with Ijane watching interestedly, asking questions every now and then about the forms, the breathing, and so on. She'd decided to do this in order not to get too rusty, since she'd realized, with a slight pain in her chest, that no one was there to remind her to do the basics anymore. This exercise, along with her twice-daily walks, and eventual jogs, around the village, had kept her fit and flexible, and she was beyond eager to get back to training…

**0000000000**

"Stay focused!" Ijane called out, as Grey was tossed across the kehrite, but managed to catch her balance before colliding with the hard-packed dirt.

She'd been watching Nanku get his ass handed to him every day for almost a month; but now, it was her turn.

Today, she knew, was just about gaging her strengths, weaknesses and skill level; but even so, Ijane wasn't holding back much as Grey was tossed around the backyard.

"Good!" the Yautja said, as the human avoided several attempts to trip her up, jumping away to put some distance between them.

Nanku was taking his turn to sit on the back porch and watch, his aunt occasionally calling out to him when Grey made a mistake, or successfully blocked or avoided an attack. She did the same for Grey, when she was sparring with her nephew, so both would watch the other and learn.

Ijane stopped for a moment and let Grey catch her breath. Vi'ren had warned her that humans were very susceptible to becoming sick if they exerted themselves too much in the heat, and Ijane had made sure to have a large jug of water ready for Grey, just in case.

"It's time to stop for today." the former Huntress decided, looking up at the sky, where the first of the two suns had already risen, and the second was well on its way. It had been agreed upon by both females that Grey's training would take place in the early mornings, when it was still cool enough that she wouldn't be in danger of overheating.

"Are you sure? I feel like I could keep going for a little longer." Grey said, stumbling over some of the Yautja words, but finally getting it right.

"I like your spirit, Luar-ke; but it's best to be cautious." her caretaker said, and turned to her nephew.

"You're dismissed for today, Nanku. Come by at the usual time tomorrow. I think you'll be ready for weapons, soon." she said, and Nanku's face lit up almost as brightly as the sun when he heard this. With a loud whoop of excitement, he rushed over, embraced his aunt, nodded to Grey, and went running home.

**0000000000**

"**Ijane, when do you think I'll be ready for weapons?"** Grey typed later that day, when she was given her translator back.

The Yautja considered her for a few moments, before typing out her reply.

"**It'll be awhile yet. You've still got to learn the basics of unarmed combat before we can even think about weapons training. Be patient, little one; you'll get there."**

It stung Grey's pride a bit to have been praised so highly by her sensei for her skills and hard work, only to be bumped back down to the basics here; but she knew, however frustratingly, that it had to be this way. The simple fact was, Yautja had a completely different way of fighting; a style like nothing Grey had ever seen, and she had start from scratch to have a hope of learning enough by the time she went off to begin her Hunter training.

"**Ten years isn't all that long, really, when you consider that you're going to need these skills for the rest of your life."** Ijane had told her, a few days before.

Grey had learned, though, that days, weeks, months and years were longer here on the Yautja Homeworld. When Kantra had said she'd be here for ten years, he was talking about Yautja years, of course; which, in human terms, would be closer to fourteen or fifteen for her.

"_I'll be thirty before I even go to Yautja boot camp, or whatever it is they have…"_ she'd thought, as she'd lain awake that night.

But apparently, Vi'ren was working on *something* that would help with that; according to Kantra, at least…

Well, unless they had something that could make her live for a hundred years, she didn't think she'd be Hunting for very long; even if she _did_ survive…

She had tried not to think about this, and rolled over, and was soon asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, everybody!**

**Hope you're all liking the story so far! Make sure to leave me a review!**

**Sorry this chapter is so short; I've been having technical troubles again…**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other copyrighted or trademarked materials! All I own are my own original characters and story ideas!**

**Chapter 15**

Grey had been living with Ijane for a little over a month, when the Yautja had come back into the house one day with some news.

"Luar-ke, Mother wishes to see you later today. She wants to talk with you about how you've been fairing here." she said, taking a spot on the cushions, while Grey went to get her a bowl of cool water, leaning the broom with which she'd been sweeping the living room floor against the wall.

"I'm surprised she hasn't wanted to see me before now; she seemed pretty adamant about checking in with me when she talked to me last month." Grey said thoughtfully, as she returned with the water.

"She would have liked to; but there were some Clan matters that needed to be attended to, and that's been taking up a lot of her time lately. Now that her time is her own again, she wants to see you and talk to you."

"And she wants to see me today?"

"Yes, after the midday meal. Go on and get washed up; you've been cleaning all morning and you've dust in your hair." Ijane said, and Grey did as she was told.

Once she'd gotten herself presentable in a pair of flowy blue shorts and a kind of wide tube top of yellow fabric with a pretty leaf pattern, she fixed her hair with the fine metal comb the village's crafter had made for her, at Ijane's request, and put on her sandals.

"Should I take these with me, just in case?" she asked, indicating the two translators. Even though she'd only been there a few weeks, Grey was becoming quite adept at speaking this new, alien language, and it was getting easier every day to understand and make herself understood to those around her. The females of the village were quite impressed by her learning curve, and she could even hold simple conversations now.

"Yes, just as a precaution; but try to speak Yautja as much as you can. I've told Mother you've been very diligent in your studies, and she's eager to see how far you've come." Ijane said.

The fact that Ijane had been bragging about her to the Matriarch made Grey blush a bit; but also gave her a great amount of pride, and she intended to do her new caretaker proud when she conversed with Di'Sedi.

"Should I take her something? I mean, should I bring her some naxa or n'eza bread? I don't feel right, showing up empty-handed; she's the leader of this Clan, after all…" Grey said.

A short time later, Grey set out for Di'Sedi's house, carrying over one arm a basket containing several large, ripe red naxa fruit, a few slices of the n'eza bread she'd baked that morning, and some thick slices of freshly-roasted meat, seasoned with some herbs from Ijane's back porch garden.

Walking through the village, Grey enjoyed the feeling of the midmorning suns that shone down on her. It wasn't too hot for her to be outside yet, and there was a nice, cooling breeze coming down from the distant mountains, bringing with it the smell of the rain that had began to fall lightly every night, as Ijane had told her it usually did at this time of year.

Several of the females working outside, either in their gardens or fire pits, or trying to wrangle their pups, stopped what they were doing to shout out greetings to her, which she returned with a smile, before going on her way.

"_This place is so peaceful…"_ she thought. There were no sirens, no traffic sounds, helicopters… There was nothing but the sounds of nature and quiet village life.

"HUNT THE OOMAN! HUNT THE OOMAN! HUNT THE OOMAN!"

"Oh, shit…!" Grey said aloud, as eight or nine little male pups, some of which were still young enough to be running around naked, rushed out from behind some nearby bushes and headed right toward her.

The little males had made up this "Hunt the ooman" game sometime after she'd started going out and about in the village. There wasn't actually any "Hunting" involved; they just hid behind something until she happened to pas by, before running out and trying to grab hold of her, thereby claiming her as their "trophy". This inevitably led to the pack of little Hunters squabbling about who had claimed her first…

"She's mine! I got to her first!" one little greenish male yelled, over the small roars and growls of protest of the others.

"Your mama won't let you keep her; besides, she's mine!" another brown pup argued, grabbing Grey's leg and holding on for dear life.

"My mama would so let me keep her!" the first pup countered, his little mandibles flaring in indignation.

"Would not!"

"Would so!"

"Would not!"

Would so!"

This looked to be an argument that would likely last most of the morning, and several of the other pups had already started taking sides. Grey had to figure out a diplomatic solution to get out of this, so she wouldn't be late to meet with the Matriarch.

"Kids! I can't be anyone's trophy; Arbitrator Kantra and Lady Ijane are looking after me, remember?" she said loudly, trying not to shout at them over their jabbering.

That quieted them down, and the little male holding on to her leg let her go, relinquishing his claim. As she began to walk again, they trotted alongside her, asking her questions and telling her about the things they'd done recently that mattered to little children; seeing a particularly large _zabin_ bug, trying some new food for dinner, playing in the mud beside the nearby creek, or watching their older brothers wrestle in their private kehrite back in the jungle behind Di'Sedi's house.

If only they'd known how strange she found it that these little pups-these children-would, in a few years' time, possibly be Hunting her own people; or would they, upon remembering days like this one, forego chasing that particular prey, in favor of another of the galaxy's dangerous creatures?

Soon enough, the pups drifted away from her, finding other things to distract them, and she was allowed to proceed unimpeded to Di'Sedi's house, where she was bowed through the door by one of the Matriarch's servants and shown to her private quarters.

This room was the same as it had been when she'd last spoken to Di'Sedi; the cushions on the floor, the tables, the large windows overlooking the lake… The only real difference was that this time, the Clan's Matriarch was sitting at the table in front of the largest window, staring intently at something on the table before her.

Drawing closer, Grey saw that it was that strange game she'd seen last time. She wasn't sure, but it seemed like the pieces were in a different configuration than last time, and Di'Sedi looked to be studying the formations carefully, occasionally muttering to herself or tapping one of her clawed fingers against the table as she did so.

Not wanting to be rude, Grey just stood there, for several minutes, until the older female seemed to sense that she had a visitor, and looked up from her game.

"Ah, hello, ooman Grey. Forgive me, I was trying to figure out how I got myself into such a prediciment…" she said, and cast another quick look at the board, sighed in disgust, and turned back to her visitor.

"No need to apologize, Matriarch. That's some sort of game, isn't it?" Grey asked, speaking slowly and being sure to pronounce her words correctly.

"It's called so-in; an ancient game that some say dates back to before we Yautja ever discovered offworld travel. I'm not sure if it's quite _that_ old; but it has been around for a long time." the older female replied nodding to the board.

"It looks complicated."

"Not if you learn it slowly. Most young ones don't have the patience for such things, so it's mostly played by older people, who have time for such things. In any case, I want to know how you've been adjusting to your life here. Ijane tells me that you're learning our language at an astonishing rate, and I can tell she hasn't been overexerting."

"She's been helping me with it every day. I've still got a lot to learn, though; my accent's not so good sometimes. Speaking of Ijane, she and I thought you might like this…" Grey said, and handed her the basket of food her daughter had sent.

"I'd wondered what smelled so good! No one cooks like my daughters, you know; they've both inherited that skill from the maternal side of the family. All the females in our family are excellent cooks; and they've many other talents besides. I'm sure she'll start teaching you, soon enough." Di'Sedi said, nodding to the human.

"She already has; I baked the n'eza bread in that basket, and helped her make the flour for it, too. Can't take credit for the naxa fruit, though, and Ijane cooked the meat right before I came here."

"I'm impressed. The other females with whom I've spoken have all said you've been very courteous and helpful since you've started going out into the village. I hadn't expected them to accept you so readily, I'll admit; but you're certainly making a fine impression on them."

"I'm glad to know they're all right with me being here; Ijane told me things could have been very difficult for me if they decided they didn't want me around." Grey admitted.

"They could have. Even a Matriarch can't ignore the outcry of an entire Clan, if they all take up the same cause. If enough of them had complained, I'd have had to ask you to leave, to keep the peace here. The females and pups under my authority trust me to make the best decisions that will benefit everyone, and that will keep this Clan and village safe and peaceful. However, since none of them have had anything really negative to say about you, I see no reason why you shouldn't remain here."

"So then, no one's mad that I'm here?" Grey asked.

"Not angry, no; but it's still a perplexing situation for many of them. Most have found it odd, but they say they can live with it. You mind your business and are kind to their pups; that's really all they care about."

Grey had lost count of the times Ijane had told her that, above all else, she must always be nice to the little ones running around the village. If she were to upset, or God forbid, injure, one of the pups, she could count on its enraged mother charging out of nowhere, ready, willing and able to kill whoever or whatever had dared to bother her offspring.

She had decided to take Ijane at her word, and was always careful to speak kindly to them, and be gentle when she played with them.

Di'Sedi questioned Grey for a little while, asking her about her training, housework, how she was getting used to the time change, and many other things. Soon, Grey revealed her curiosity about the so-in game, and Di'Sedi, who seemed amused that an ooman of all creatures would be interested in it, asked if she wanted to learn to play.

"It could prove advantageous for you to know how to play, in the future; and you'll need every advantage you can get, if you truly intend to remain among us. Besides, it will teach you to think strategically and logically, and it will teach you patience; all of which you will need." she said, and cleared the board.

And so, twice a week Grey left Ijane's house to go visit the Matriarch, where the two would sit at the table by the window, drinking cups of hot herb tea or eating something Grey had brought for the two of them, and Di'Sedi would teach her so-in, which was an odd amalgamation of elements resembling those in dominoes, chess, shogi, go, mah-jongg, and certain storytelling elements from tabletop RPGs. Di'Sedi was no "everyone's a winner" kind of teacher, either; whenever Grey lost one of her pieces to her opponent, the older female would make her explain what had led to her loss, and what she might have done to prevent it. When Di'Sedi lost one of her own tiles, which was rare, she would give an honest explanation of her own mistake. Sometimes, Ijane would come along to watch them play, trying to help out, but with usually dismal results for whoever took her advice. These sessions also served to help Grey immensely with her Yautja language and culture studies, and by the end of her sixth month with the Lakeshore Clan, she rarely needed her translator anymore, and her accent and pronunciation had improved greatly.

She'd just entered the yard after one of these visits, when Ijane, looking extremely excited, hurried out to greet her before she even got inside the house.

"I just got a communication from Kantra! He'll be here in two days' time to see how your training is going!" she said, beaming with happiness.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey, everybody!**

**I'm sorry these last couple of chapters have taken so long to come out. I've had some more technical difficulties with my Wi-Fi lately. I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another! It's also been hard getting a chapter done because it's the holidays and I've had a lot of family stuff going on lately. I should be able to start a more regular schedule after Christmas, though. Until then, please be patient, and don't give up on me!**

**Also, I hope you guys like the title I came up with for this story. I think "AVP Story" sounds silly, and it always was meant to be a placeholder until I could think of something better.**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other copyrighted materials. All I own are my original characters and story ideas!**

**Chapter 16**

Grey and Ijane spent the next couple of days cleaning the house from top to bottom, until the entire place was basically immaculate. Ijane planned to make Kantra's favorite stew for him, and so went out into the jungle and killed a big _keru_, which could be best described as having a body somewhat like that of a kangaroo, with the way it used its powerful back legs to bound through the undergrowth, and a deer or antelope, because of the two pairs of antlers atop its rabbit-like head, and the fact that they lived in large herds. Their powerful tails were reminiscent of those of kangaroos, but unlike kangaroos, the keru used these appendages as blunt weapons when fighting for mates or territory, or for defending their young, which were always kept safely in the center of the herd. These tails could crack a Yautja's ribs with little trouble; and then the keru would use their huge, clawed hind feet to deliver a powerful kick or, if the attacker was already on the ground, a finishing stomp to the head. They were generally peaceful and shy creatures; but could be deadly when provoked.

Their meat tasted a lot like beef, and Grey was pretty sure it was keru that she had been given for her first meal aboard the Thwei-Luar-ke Clan's ship when she arrived there.

Ijane had hung the carcass upside down from a sturdy frame and let the blood drain out into a large tub, and then butchered the creature, placing several of the large slabs of fresh meat into a kind of marinade she'd prepared beforehand, and the rest went into the huge walk-in freezer. The entrails were given to a couple of Ijane's neighbors who enjoyed eating them boiled with herbs and spices, since Ijane herself had never liked to eat innards, and Grey was grateful for that.

"Soon, I'll teach you to do this yourself." the Yautja had told her young charge, as she pulled more squishy-looking things from inside the dead keru. Grey wasn't, and would probably never be, strong enough to bring a fully-grown keru back from the jungle; but she could assist in its butchering, and she could, in time, be trusted to bring back smaller game for their meals. Nanku was already making periodic trips into the dense, green jungle to acquire meat for his mother's table, and Ijane had begun to show them both how to properly prepare and preserve Hunting trophies, using the game she'd collected for them to practice on. Grey wasn't as skilled at it as Nanku, and neither could hold a candle to Ijane; but she assured them that they were getting better at it.

The morning of Kantra's expected arrival, both females bathed and got dressed, as they usually did after training. Ijane wore a lone, pale pink strapless dress, and Grey donned a wide blue tube top and loose grey pants, and her favorite sandals, and tied her hair (which was getting a bit longer now) back into a grey scarf she'd borrowed from Nuini. Grey had spent an hour helping Ijane to braid several of her favorite hair ornaments into her long dreadlocks, and was surprised by how stiff and tightly-braided Yautja hair was.

Once they'd received a communication from Kantra that he was a little more than an hour away, they had cut up the meat and vegetables, and added them to the large pot of boiling water, along with a number of herbs and spices, to make a thick, delicious stew that Kantra had loved ever since he was a child. Grey had then baked some n'eza bread to go with the stew, and went to get some naxa fruit for dessert, coming back with a few leaves in her hair from climbing up into the tree.

Kantra then called to tell them that his ship was entering the vicinity, and the pair of them went out to stand at the village gates to welcome him. Grey could tell that Ijane was anxious to see her son again; she'd gotten the impression that he didn't drop by often, and this was confirmed when Nuini had explained to her that, once males were old enough to travel about freely, they rarely paid visits to their maternal Clans. Hunters who came around to see their mothers too often were basically considered "mama's boys"; and caught hell from their comrades for it.

Grey, however, had a suspicion that Kantra's case was different, somehow; but she wasn't about to go prying into Ijane and Kantra's personal business.

Soon, a tiny speck appeared out of the slightly-green sky, and as they watched, it descended, growing slowly but steadily, until they could recognize it as a ship. It hovered in place for a few moments, before setting down gently in the clearing outside the village, and a minute later, a large panel slid up to reveal a door, and a long ramp descended to the ground.

A few moments later, a lone figure appeared silhouetted in the door, then began to make its way down the ramp, heading toward the two females.

"Kantra…" Grey heard Ijane whisper…

**0000000000**

For the past few months, Kantra had been receiving regular reports about Grey from both his mother and Vi'ren.

Vi'ren had let him know when he'd given Grey and Ijane the all-clear to begin her training, and had kept up with visits to monitor her health. He had reported that Grey was in excellent physical condition, and seemed to be coping well mentally as well. Kantra was glad of this; he'd been a bit concerned about her mental stability, after everything she'd been through with the Bad Bloods, coupled with the news of her teacher's death.

Ijane had, no doubt, played a big part in seeing to Grey's emotional health. She'd told Kantra that, not only was Grey excelling at her training, but she was also working through her grief about losing her mentor, and wasn't crying at night like she'd done when she'd first arrived; though she'd sworn her son to secrecy about this fact. Ijane had also revealed that the other females in the village had apparently taken a liking to Grey, and she was able to walk freely about the village without being harassed; though some still cocked their heads curiously when they saw her. He had known that the females of the village would at least bring Grey no harm, since she was still considered a pup; but to think that so many of them had actually taken to her… It was better than he'd ever hoped.

He also learned that Grey's fluency in the Yautja language was growing by the day. She could now carry on conversations with others, and rarely needed her translator tablet anymore. Ijane told him that he had his grandmother Di'Sedi to thank for a lot of this; she had begun teaching Grey to play so-in, and her knowledge of Yautja language and culture was almost doubling by the day. Kantra didn't believe such an exaggeration, of course; but he was certain that Grey's education was progressing nicely.

Kantra had been given shortened versions of these reports to Elder Yeyinde, who was likewise pleased with the situation. He had even admitted that he was looking forward to seeing Grey again, once she'd completed her training and was allowed to come back to the Clan ship.

"It will be interesting, I think, to talk with her when she is in a better state than last time." he'd said, when Kantra had come to visit him last. The older male always did have an odd interest in oomans and their ways; but a bit of eccentricity was to be expected from one of his age and status, so Kantra wasn't worried about it.

Kwei had been surprised to learn that Grey was rapidly losing the need for his translators; but rather than being disappointed, the news had seemed to light a fire within the quartermaster that was rarely ignited these days, with his routine sharpening of blades, cleaning of armor and programming and calibrating masks and wrist gauntlets. He'd been preoccupied for nearly two months now, and spent all his spare time locked up in the workroom of his shop, tinkering. Though, this was hardly unusual, and since his work hadn't suffered because of it, everyone went about their business and left him to his.

He'd come to see Kantra only the previous day, just as he was making preparations to leave, and presented him with a small, sleek-looking device, not too dissimilar from the previous one, looking at it with the pride of a father viewing his firstborn pup.

Kantra felt a bit guilty as he told the quartermaster once again that Grey wasn't going to need a new translator, and that she wasn't going to need her current one for much longer, anyway, but Kwei had shaken his head and explained, almost breathlessly, that this new device was no mere translator.

"It does translate, yes; but that's hardly its only function or capability. This device has a myriad of functions, all of which I am certain with avail Grey immensely throughout her life. My colleagues and I have been working on this new model for several months, and it's as close to perfection as our current technology comes." he'd said, looking almost lovingly at the device.

"It sounds complicated. Do you think Grey will be able to use such a thing?" Kantra had asked, dubiously.

"Oh, I think she'll be able to figure it out quite quickly. We used ooman communication devices and computers as a basis, and went from there. But, if she does run into trouble, she can send me a communication, and I'll help her."

So Kantra brought the little device with him, and it was now wrapped in a piece of soft cloth and stowed securely in the pouch on his belt.

He kept his pace slow and deliberate as strode across the landing clearing and toward the village gates, where he could already see his mother and Grey waiving excitedly to him. As he drew nearer to the two females, a twinge of anxiety went through him, as it always did when he spoke to or saw his mother; or even when he talked about her.

When he at last stood before them, he was shocked at how Grey had changed. When he'd last seen her, she was a rather wretched creature, malnourished and miserable, uncertain about her future, and wearing a borrowed sheet as clothing.

Now, she had some weight on her (though, she was still skinny), and some noticeable muscle, as well. She was wearing clothing Kantra was sure his mother had made for her, and she was smiling in her ooman way, and talking excitedly in nearly-flawless Yautja, clearly glad to see him again.

His mother, meanwhile stepped forward and embraced him briefly, before stepping back to look at her adult son.

"You look well, Kantra. I assume you've been eating enough aboard that Clan ship of yours?" she said.

"I have, Mother. They treat me well." he replied quietly, keeping his eyes averted from hers.

She studied his face a moment, before speaking again.

"Well, come along to the house. I've prepared your favorite stew for you; it's time you had a proper meal. Then, we can discuss Luar-ke's training."

"Who?" Kantra asked, confused.

"Luar-ke. I started calling Grey by that name soon after she arrived." his mother explained, as the trio began walking toward the small house by the forest.

As they walked through the village, several females called out to them, commenting on what a fine son Ijane had raised, how Kantra had become the pride of the Lakeshore Clan, that he was a credit to the Yautja, and so on. The little pups, in hearing there was an Arbitrator in the vicinity, rushed out from all directions, bombarding Kantra with questions about his Hunts, fighting Bad Bloods and the things he'd seen on his travels. Eventually, they managed to shake the little ones off, all of them groaning in disappointment as their mothers called out to them to leave the group to their business and go about their playing.

When they got inside the house, Kantra's mind was immediately flooded with memories of his childhood. As a pup, he'd taken his first steps here, he'd run through the large, open rooms while his mother had chased him, pretending to be a _kiande amedha_ Queen, he'd trained with her, day after day, in the kehrite she'd made in the backyard, and he'd sought her comfort on stormy nights, when the loud thunder and flashing lightning had frightened him so. The smell of his mother's cooking permeated the air, reminding him of countless meals they'd eaten together at the kitchen table, while Kantra had told her endlessly of the many things he would do when he became a great Hunter, and she, in turn, had told him of her own deeds as a Huntress, long before he'd been born.

It took him a moment to compose himself, but soon, he was seated once again at the familiar kitchen table, as his mother and Grey, working in perfect unison, finished preparing dinner and setting the table. The food was as wonderful as he remembered, and for a little while, he felt almost like his younger self, eating with his mother and having no real concern other than defeating another of the Clan's young males in a wrestling match the next day.

While Kantra ate, his mother filled him about what she and Grey had been up to.

"As I said, I call her Luar-ke; but it hasn't really caught on with the other females and pups. Ah, well…" she sighed.

"Yeah, but that kind of makes it our thing, doesn't it? It's something that's just ours… I… I really like that…" Grey admitted quietly, and Kantra didn't miss the look of affection his mother gave the younger female.

When they'd finished eating, Ijane asked Grey to tend to the dishes, and insisted that Kantra take a walk with her around the village. This would be the first real conversation he'd had with her in years, and though he'd given the weak excuse of needing to check on something in his ship, his mother was having none of it, and the two set out.

More females called out greetings to them as they passed, and it took a few minutes for them to decide on a walking trail that would give them more privacy. It was obvious to Kantra that his mother was beyond eager to speak openly with her child again; though he wasn't nearly as enthusiastic.

A few minutes of silence passed between them, and Kantra made up his mind to break this silence, lest his mother ask him something that made the situation even more uncomfortable.

"You and Grey certainly seem to be getting along well." he observed.

"Yes, I must admit, she's become quite special to me. I greatly enjoy having her here."

"And you said that her training is going well?"

"It is. She's progressing faster than I could have hoped. Her eagerness to learn almost makes up for her physical limitations."

"Limitations?"

"Kantra, you know full well that she'd not as strong as a Yautja; nor as fast. She can't jump nearly as high, run as long, climb as fast, survive the kinds of climate we can, or land on her feet after a big fall. Her body doesn't heal quickly like ours do, nor can she take as much damage. She doesn't even have _claws_, for Paya's sake!"

"She is not weak, Mother."

"I don't think she's weak, Kantra; not at all! I just think you have some unrealistic expectations regarding what she's capable of."

"I think she could be great, given time."

"Perhaps, but you can't hold her to the same standards as you would a Yautja; at least not physically. I've no doubt she can become a credit to your Clan; but she'll have to do it in her own way, in her own time. And, you do realize that "time" is something oomans don't have a great deal of, compared to us?"

"I think I already explained that Vi'ren is working on something for that…" Kantra said.

"He's mentioned that to me, too; but I've no idea what that could entail." Ijane mused.

This was something that Kantra had been eager to discuss with his mother. Only a few days before, the Healer had contacted him with the news that he'd decided on a course of action to extend Grey's life, and he wanted to run the idea by Ijane, before mentioning it to Grey.

"Blood." Kantra said.

"What?"

"Blood. Yautja blood. Our blood has properties that can, according to Vi'ren and many other Healers, extend the lifespan of other creatures. If Grey were to be given Yautja blood, she could live far beyond what could be expected of an ooman."

Ijane looked shocked at this proposal.

"Do you mean, turn her into a Yautja?" she asked, sounding confused and revolted by the prospect.

"No! It has nothing to do with genetic modification; besides, everyone knows such things are forbidden to any Yautja who considers themselves honorable. Grey only needs to be given regular transfusions; or, she could even drink the blood herself…though Vi'ren and I think the transfusions are a better-and more palatable-option." Kantra explained, with a shudder.

His mother thought for a few minutes, then spoke again.

"When would this "treatment" take place?"

"Vi'ren wants to wait a few years, until Grey is a bit older and her body has developed a little more. There would be no point in doing it now, since she would, according to Vi'ren, be stuck in the body of a child for decades, or longer. No; it would be far better to wait until she is in her mid-twenties."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, until Ijane spoke again.

"What if Luar-ke doesn't want to do it?"

"I cannot force her; but I will remind her that she agreed to become a Huntress for the Thwei-Luar-Ke Clan. She gave her word that she would do what was asked of her on the Path to becoming a Huntress; and if that includes extending her lifespan in this way, well…" he trailed off.

"And if she still refuses? What if she thinks it's an abomination? What if she doesn't want to live a thousand years as a Huntress?"

"Honestly, I do not know. Still, even after I tell her of this, she will have several years to get used to the idea. I got the impression from Grey that she is reasonable; so I do not think she will put up too much of a fuss about this."

Ijane made a noise that indicated she was unsure, but said nothing more for awhile.

"When will you tell her?" she asked, as the pair of them completed the large circle they'd been walking in and began to approach the house.

"Before I leave, I think. I have asked Vi'ren to come by after that and explain the procedure to her in more detail, and answer any questions either of you may have."

"How long will you be staying, anyway?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

"A few days. I want to assess Grey's current skills for myself, and I cannot do that in one day. I would also like to see how Nanku's training is coming along. Perhaps I could see how they fare in a spar against each other?" he suggested, trying to sound casual.

"I can arrange that." Ijane said, with a smile at her son.


	17. Chapter 17

New chapter, woo!

This one also comes with an apology for taking so long again!

Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other copyrighted or trademarked material! All I own are my original characters and story ideas!

Please leave a review!

Chapter 17

That night, Grey slept on the cushions in the living room, while Kantra took his old bedroom. At first, he'd tried to tell his mother that he'd be fine sleeping aboard his own ship, but Ijane had told him, in no uncertain terms, that he would sleep in his own room, in his own bed, if she had to tie him down herself, and so he'd acquiesced.

The next morning, Kantra woke her up himself, telling her that it was time, at last, for him to see what she could do in combat. At first, Grey wondered if it was some kind of joke, since it was a full two hours earlier than her and Ijane's normal training time, but Kantra had insisted, and so, yawning and bleary-eyed, the human had rose, splashed some cold water on her face, and changed into her training clothes.

She was almost asleep on her feet as she walked out into the kehrite, and was soon joined by Ijane, who was grumbling tiredly, and a little incoherently, under her breath, clearly irritated by her son's wake-up call.

Kantra, however, was so full of energy that Grey nearly hated him for it. He almost seemed…cheerful? No; that wasn't the right word… Enthusiastic, maybe? Yes, that was better; Grey couldn't imagine Kantra being "cheerful" about anything…

"Now, I will test you to see what Mother has taught you so far. I hope you will not disappoint me. After this, I have something to discuss with you, and something to give you." he said, as he handed her one of the wooden training swords.

The two took their places at either side of the kehrite, while Ijane looked on from the back porch, where she leaned sleepily against the wall of the house.

"Begin, while there's still naxa in the pantry..." she called out, obviously so tired that she didn't realize the nonsense she'd just spoken.

The two began to circle each other, waiting for the other to make their move. Kantra was the first one to attack, landing a solid hit on Grey's shoulder, though she was certain that he was holding back, since even a blow with a wooden sword from a fully-grown Yautja would have easily broken her clavicle; but she'd still have a nasty bruise there later.

Though Ijane had trained her diligently, Grey was still new to using weapons, and Kantra was incredibly experienced, so that it was all she could do to block his attacks, let alone get in any herself. She also got the feeling that he was letting her block him, which didn't give her much confidence in her abilities, to be honest.

Their session went on for the better part of an hour, with Grey's tiredness and inexperience ensuring that she received several more bruises from the training sword.

After this, Kantra spent the next couple of hours working with Grey on her techniques for gripping and holding the sword, how to plant her feet, how to watch her opponent's feet, and so on. She listened as well as she could, considering how tired she was; but she still got the occasional light rap on the head when Kantra felt she wasn't paying attention as she should to his sage advice. When they were finally finished, it was just about the time when she would have normally been waking up, and both she and Ijane were exhausted.

"I am pleased with your progress, Grey. We will try unarmed combat tomorrow." Kantra said, as she and Ijane walked back into the house.

"Are you staying out here for awhile?" the human asked.

"Nanku is coming over soon. He wishes me to see how his own training is coming along. I have spoken with my aunt, and she has given permission for me to spar with him…though I doubt it will be much of a match. You may go and get some rest now." he replied, waving a hand dismissively as Nanku came around the side of the house, yawning, for his own training session.

Grey wasn't going to argue, and after a cool bath, put her nightgown back on and crawled back into the pile of cushions, not even bothering to get something to eat from the kitchen.

0000000000

Ijane couldn't believe that Kantra had gotten herself and Luar-ke out of bed so early, and grumbled about it all day; especially since she hadn't even been needed that morning! She could understand that her son was anxious to see the fruits of her labor with the ooman; but Luar-ke was, after all, still little more than a pup.

"You couldn't have waited a couple of hours?" she asked quietly, as she busied herself with breakfast, having bathed and changed into a long green tunic dress. She made sure to keep her voice down, since Luar-ke was still asleep in the front room.

"I doubt it would have made a difference, Mother. Her skills are impressive, though; you are doing a fine job with her, and Nanku." Kantra said, from where he sat at the kitchen table, watching her.

"I have no doubt I'm doing a good job; but that's not the point! How can you possibly assess her skills when she's barely conscious? Tomorrow, let her get up at the usual time and have something to eat, before dragging her outside to pummel her, all right?"

Kantra looked a little sheepishly at her, before he nodded in agreement.

"Very well, Mother." he said, and looked around the kitchen to try and find something else to talk about, and his honey-yellow eyes settled on a small, painted clay pot on one of the counters.

"Is that new? I do not think I have ever seen it before." he said, but since he hadn't been back in this house for so long, that wasn't saying much.

"The pot? Yes; Luar-ke made it a few weeks ago and gave it to me." his mother said, looking fondly at the little pot.

"She made it for you?"

"Nuini is teaching her how to make clay pottery. Neither of her older daughters are interested in learning, and her younger ones can't sit still long enough; so she began teaching Luar-ke, when she noticed her admiring some of the pottery in her house. She's getting quite good at it, actually; and she enjoys it almost as much as when we make hair ornaments together."

"She is helping you make your trinkets, as well?" the Arbitrator asked. He had long known of his mother's using the adornments to trade for sundry household goods; even though he'd told her time and time again that he would provide her with anything she needed, if she'd just ask him, since money was of no real issue to him anymore.

"She is; and I'm teaching her how to cook, sew her own clothes, and make baskets. She's shown interest in learning how to weave cloth, so I'm going to talk to Mjadi about teaching her that, too. Perhaps she could even start learning to play an instrument…" Ijane said thoughtfully, and this was too much for Kantra.

"Mother! I left her here with you so you could teach her our ways, our language and how to fight! I did not leave her here to spend her time learning homemaking and handicrafts!" he said angrily; but he knew he'd gone too far when Ijane threw her spoon down on the counter and quickly turned to face her son, and Kantra caught a whiff of her agitated musk.

"You will lower your voice and mind your manners when you speak to me, Kantra! Luar-ke is still sleeping in the other room! As for what I choose to teach her… Would you have me lock her in her room, and only let her out for training exercises? Perhaps I should just slide her a food tray underneath the door, like one would do a prisoner?" she hissed, her eyes narrowing as she surveyed the male sitting at her table.

"N-no, Mother... Of course, I did not mean anything of the sort… I just think…that her time could be better spent-" Kantra began, but a wave of his irritated mother's hand silenced him instantly.

"Her time is spent learning a number of skills that will serve her well throughout her life. Believe it or not, I'm not just teaching her these things for my own amusement. Luar-ke will need to attain a level of self-sufficiency that many of her peers in your Clan will never reach. She will need to know how to take care of herself; because I fear there will be precious few of our people willing to help her."

"If she Hunts, she can gain their respect-"

"She may gain the respect of some of our more open-minded people, certainly; but you have to accept that a great many will likely see her as an inferior, an amusing novelty or as nothing more than an animal…or they may simply ignore her presence entirely. Once she enters her basic training, she'll have to work twice as the others to gain half as much respect; and it will be even harder, once she joins your Clan."

They were both silent for awhile.

"She works hard, Kantra. She puts all her effort into learning everything I teach. She's not lazy, insolent or stupid; but she is an ooman, and I have to adjust her training accordingly, and temper my expectations when it comes to certain things. What more would you have her do? What more would you have me do?" she asked quietly.

She had him there, Kantra had to admit it. Honestly, he hadn't been expecting that Grey would be able to block as many of his attacks as she had; and the way she'd avoided him and waited for the right time to strike… Yes, she was progressing well; in fact, there were a few Young Bloods he knew of who couldn't have done better. Of course, Grey couldn't be trained exactly like a Yautja; but he was confident that his mother could and would turn her into an excellent Huntress, given enough time.

After all, she'd raised and trained him, and he'd become an Arbitrator, despite…

"I will leave it to you then, Mother. I trust your judgement, and I will not question you anymore." he said, and she smiled.

"Thank you, Kantra. As I said; she's working hard in her training, and getting better every day, and I've never heard her complain. Actually, I believe she loves it… You know, she wants to ask Mother about using one of the larger rooms in her house as a kehrite, so she isn't so limited with the time she can spend practicing every day? She doesn't think two or three hours a day is enough!"

This made Kantra smile with a fierce kind of pride.

"I will talk with Grandmother about it. If she is not using the room, I do not think she will have any objections to allowing you to train there." he said.

0000000000

Grey woke up around lunchtime and took a cool shower, enjoying how good the water felt on her bruises. She ate almost as much as Kantra did at lunch, and after this, the Arbitrator quizzed her for awhile on Yautja culture and laws, taking care to explain in detail the society's hierarchy.

"The highest-ranking Yautja are called the Adjudicators." he said, as they sat at the kitchen table, Grey having finished helping Ijane wash the dishes and tidy up.

"They ensure that our most ancient and sacred rites and traditions are upheld. The Adjudicators' Council, sometimes called the "Council of Ancients", are a group of venerable Hunters from the most honorable and influential Clans. They will sometimes set two or more Clans against each other, either in combat or in a Chiva, to decide which will become one of the powerful Clans whose Elders may ascend to the status of Adjudicators themselves one day. These Clans get the first choice when it comes to Hunting territory, and every Young Blood aspires to join one of these one day. No Clan Leader, from the most powerful Clan to the most obscure one, gains their position without the Council's approval." he continued.

"Have you ever met any of them? The Adjudicators, I mean." Grey asked.

"A few times, yes. It is a great honor and privilege to be asked to come before them, even for an Arbitrator. In fact, they are the only ones able to overrule an Arbitrator's decision; though it is extremely rare for them to do so. Elder Yeyinde's family have long been held in high esteem by the Council; and a few of his ancestors have been Adjudicators themselves. Some even say that he may be chosen for the position one day; though I doubt he would ever leave the Thwei-Luar-ke Clan."

"What did they summon you for?" Grey asked, intrigued.

"I was called before them when I was appointed Arbitrator, when they asked me to deal with a particularly ruthless group of Bad Blood dissidents, and after that, when they presented me with my ship. Elder Yeyinde has met with them several times, as they greatly respect his opinion on certain matters."

"Where are they? Where do they live?" the human inquired, more intrigued still.

"There is an enormous estate in the capital city where they live and conduct most of their business. They have numerous servants, many from lesser Clans, who hope to raise their status, and their own personal Elite Guard, who are extremely well-trained, well-armed and armored, and willing to die for any one of the members of the Council. There are currently seventeen Adjudicators serving on the Council; all from fine, ancient Clans."

"Okay, and after the Adjudicators comes the Arbitrators?" Grey asked.

"Yes. As you know, Arbitrators Hunt down Bad Bloods; but we also render decisions on matters that are too minor for the Adjudicators to bother with themselves. It is mostly Clans squabbling over Hunting rights, really; but occasionally we have to pass sentence on Yautja who fail in their Hunts. Technically, they are also considered Bad Bloods; but I do not personally consider them as such. I usually try to give them a second chance; after a period of time in exile, they are allowed to start from the beginning, as Young Bloods, and regain their honor."

"Who's after the Arbitrators?"

"That would be the Ancients, who have survived at least a thousand Hunts. Some of the Adjudicators are Ancients; but not all Ancients are Adjudicators. They may mediate disputes, or some may choose to train Blooded warriors who wish to extend their martial knowledge. After them is the Elders and Clan Leaders, who, as their title suggests, lead their respective Clans. They choose where their Clans will go next, where they will Hunt, when they will return to the Homeworld, how many, if any, Young Bloods will be accepted for training, and so on."

"That's what Elder Yeyinde does, then?"

"Yes. And after the Elders and Clan Leaders come the Elite Hunters, and then the High Honored, then the Honored, then Blooded Hunters, Young Bloods, and Unblooded. Of course, below them are pups and sucklings, respectively, and then the 'aseigan, who are either too cowardly, injured or untalented to Hunt for themselves. And below all of these are, of course, the Bad Bloods." Kantra finished.

"But," Ijane said, coming over to sit beside her son, "there are also the crafters, clerics, philosophers, scientists, technicians, Healers, and so forth. They occupy a kind of "rank-within-a-rank" system."

Vaguely, Grey wondered what a Yautja philosopher would be like; but then another question entered her mind.

"What's the difference between a pup and a suckling?" she asked.

"A suckling is a child who hasn't yet left its mother's breast; hence the name. Dami is a suckling, while Chu'tdi is a pup." Ijane replied.

"And I'm an Unblooded?"

"You are still a pup." she corrected.

"But I'm almost sixteen years old!" Grey protested, disbelievingly.

"With Yautja, a pup is one who yet resides with their bearer, or caregiver, in this case. You are still a pup, and will remain so until you go off for your training." Kantra said.

So, after all she'd been through, after all the training and learning she'd done these past few months, she was still considered a little kid?

And, she realized, she would still be considered a child well into her twenties!

Ijane seemed to read her mind, and spoke again.

"But, since you're still considered a pup, you have a special degree of protection. None may harm you without bringing down upon themselves the full wrath of our laws. For you, this is a great boon." she said.

They continued talking for awhile, until Kantra seemed to remember something important, and reached into the leather pouch on his belt, bringing out a small, flat device and setting it on the table before Grey.

"Kwei created this for you. He says it is a sort of upgraded version of your translator." he said, sliding it across the table toward Grey, who picked it up and examined it.

It was about the same size as her current translator; but this one had an even sleeker look, and a casing that seemed to be made out of some kind of metal that had the look of highly-polished hematite. The screen was large, and made of some kind of glass that Grey was sure would take more than rattling around inside a pocket to scratch. It was pleasingly heavy, and felt cool in her hand as she held it.

"But she hardly ever needs her translator anymore; you said yourself that her Yautja has improved dramatically." Ijane was saying, cocking her head in confusion.

"Apparently, this one has some new features that Kwei thought she would find useful." Kantra said.

"What sort of features?" Grey asked curiously.

"I know not; but I trust Kwei's judgement about such things."

Grey tapped the screen experimentally, and immediately the device came to life, displaying a very familiar-looking interface.

"What the hell?" Grey breathed, as flicked through several screens, then went into the "Settings" menu. The entire interface was almost a carbon copy of an Android-based smartphone!

Before she could do anything else, the screen changed to show the image of a familiar Yautja face, apparently in the process of adjusting a camera, and doing what Grey now knew to be their version of smiling.

"K-Kwei?" she asked, astounded.

"Indeed. I had my personal computer set up to alert me when you activated your device, so I may answer any questions you may have." he said. He seemed to push a few buttons, and a full-size, full-color holographic image of himself appeared, seemingly floating an inch or so above her hand. The image and audio were so perfect, it seemed as though the quartermaster were in the room with them, golden leg and all!

"Put him down on the table." Kantra said, and Grey did.

"How did you make the interface like that?" Grey asked, still shocked at seeing something so familiar.

"Well, basically I hacked into some of the ooman computer systems and cloned the programming, then mirrored many of the features. I added a number of my own personal touches, as well; as I'm sure Kantra told you. I didn't do it alone, though. I have a number of colleagues who are as interested in ooman technology as myself, and this was another collaboration. They were practically salivating when I told them of my ideas for this device." he said.

"What can it do?" Ijane asked, clearly interested now.

"It has the same basic translator function as the other one, of course; but this one can also scan objects and give a readout of valuable information about them, similar to our masks. Weapons, armor, ships, and the like. I also contacted Vi'ren, who was glad to share with me the list of things you can eat, the medicines you can take, and so forth, and added it to the database. You can also scan plants, medications, food, water, and other substances, to see if they are safe."

That would help her greatly when she was in the forest, looking for berries and herbs; she'd already ended up with an unpleasant rash from some kind of red, thorny vine a couple of months ago that had required Vi'ren's intervention to stop the itchy, oozy thing from spreading. She was in no hurry to repeat that experience.

"It can also connect to our informational network, as well as the ooman "Internet"." Kwei added.

"Are you sure that is a wise idea, to include such a thing?" Kantra asked him, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"I think it's all right that she stay current on what's happening on her homeworld. Unless you think she'd do something foolish, like broadcast her whereabouts, or our existence, to her people?"

All eyes in the room turned to Grey, who immediately shook her head vigorously.

"I won't tell anyone! I swear!" she said; and she was being completely honest about it. Even if she did, there was nothing anyone on Earth could do for her, anyway. What would be the point? She had no friends or family to contact, anyway, and everyone probably thought she was, and had been, dead for some time now.

"Very well. But I want you to monitor her very closely, Mother. If it even looks like she is thinking of doing something foolish, I want you to confiscate the device, and alert me at once." Kantra said to Ijane, who nodded gravely.

"And rest assured, Grey; no intervention from Mother will save you from the punishment I will inflict on you. I am giving you my trust in this matter; for your sake, do not make me regret it." the Arbitrator said, a threatening growl in his voice.

"O-okay…" Grey said meekly, seeing for a moment the shadow of the Arbitrator that made Bad Bloods so afraid of him; she'd seen him in action before, and knew full well what he could do to her, should he decide that it was warranted…

"If that's settled then, I also want to add that it's also a communicator. You can contact anyone for whom you have the hailing codes." Kwei said, his relaxed, cheerful tone contrasting almost comically with the dourness of Kantra's.

"That's useful; I won't have to go to Mother's house to get you for dinner when your so-in games run long anymore." Ijane said.

"And it also has a self-destruct sequence." the quartermaster added brightly.

"WHAT?" Ijane, Grey and Kantra said together, each one shocked. Grey had heard of the devastatingly powerful devices built into the standard Yautja wrist gauntlet; enough "boom" to destroy several city blocks, or acres of jungle, or almost anything else that was in the range of the explosion… To think that she held something with that kind of potential made her very nervous.

"Calm yourself; it will only detonate with a very specific passcode, just like your own. It would be nigh impossible to set it off accidentally." Kwei assured them.

"Where is the self-destruct option, exactly? It's not an app, is it?" Grey asked.

"It's in the "Settings" menu, below the option to make the text larger or smaller."

"Oh, yeah; that's the most logical place to put something like that…" the human thought sarcastically, but said nothing.

"Why would you add something like that?" Ijane asked, beginning to get over her initial shock.

"In case it ever fell into the wrong hands; though I don't really know how they'd hope to access it, since it's biologically coded to only react to Grey's specific genetic signature, or someone to whom she allows access. Otherwise, it's just a useless piece of metal. The only way it can go off without the passcode is if someone tampers with it for too long, such as trying to gain access by force, or hacking. Only a Yautja would have a hope of hacking it, however; since the overall system is of Yautja programming. Ooman-made viruses and the like don't have a prayer of infiltrating it."

"So then, if she drops it accidentally…" Kantra began, looking a little worried.

"Do you think me that much of a fool, Kantra? No; the casing is made of the same kind of alloys as the outer hulls of our ships; and the screen is all but shatterproof, as it's made out of the same kind of glass as our port windows! It's even immune to the acidic blood of the kiande amedha, for the love of the gods!"

Kwei was actually bragging now.

"And I hope to make an even better one, in the future." he added.

"What more can do to it, aside from making it fly or something?" Grey asked, her mind reeling from sheer amazement at the capabilities of the little thing on the table before her.

"Oh, you'd be amazed; but I have to get permission from some of my colleagues in higher positions before I make the kind of modifications I'm envisioning. Until then, I think you'll be more than satisfied with it. Now, I have to go; a new bunch of recruits are beginning their training tomorrow, and I have to start crafting their basic armor. Let me know if there's any problems; but I don't foresee any. I'll see you back aboard the Clan ship, Kantra. Farewell."

With this, he terminated the communication, leaving them all staring at the place where he'd been.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other trademarked or copyrighted materials. All I own are my original characters and story ideas!**

**Chapter 18**

Kantra continued to stay with Ijane and Grey for another three days, during which time, he also took it upon himself to check up on Nanku's progress, which he found to be satisfactory; though he did encourage the younger male to spend more time working on clearing his mind and learning how to focus and strategize, rather than rely solely on his reflexes and brute strength to take down his opponents.

By the day the Arbitrator decided to leave, his training sessions were being watched by no less then ten of the village's other prospective future Hunters; not to mention the dozen or so younger pups-both male and female-who came to see such an esteemed member of their Clan practicing his skills. Every one of the other males of Nanku's age had, by this point, received their own short combat lesson; usually ending in the younger one being thrown across the room or slammed to the floor…but they were happy, as their mothers told them they should be, to have such a teacher, even if it was only for a short time.

Grey, however, wasn't really sharing in their joy as much as she might have done otherwise. She had learned, through use of Kwei's amazing device, which she'd decided at length to call a phone, because she really couldn't think of anything else to call the little thing, that her suspicions about what was going on back on Earth were right; and worse than she'd thought.

It was true that, as she'd suspected, the police had thought her either a victim or suspect in the murder of her sensei; but she was shocked to read that many people-both adults and those her own age-had their own suspicions about her involvement in the crime. Several interviews revealed that people suspected that her teacher had been carrying on some kind of inappropriate "relationship" with her, and people who believed this generally fell into three groups.

The first of these were mostly adults, who thought that Grey was a victim of some kind of weird grooming by an older man looking to take advantage of a young, impressionable girl. This theory said that Grey had snapped after a great deal of emotional-and possibly sexual-abuse, and killed her abuser, before running away. Grey clenched her teeth so much her jaws hurt as she'd read the comments associated with this story, and she'd had to go out to the kehrite early the next morning to work off some of her frustrations.

The second theory, held mostly by those of or close to her own age, was that the relationship was consensual, and that Grey had killed her older lover out of jealousy, or some kind of suicide pact gone wrong, or something along those lines. Really, though, this didn't surprise her, because she'd heard this kind of thing whispered about her before; but she'd managed to ignore it.

The third and most laughable rumor held that Grey was the pursuer, and that she was some kind of obsessed yandere stalker or something, and that's she'd killed her sensei, again, out of jealousy, or because she couldn't have him, and decided that no one else should, either.

In all of these cases, she'd apparently gone underground to hide from the police; perhaps even seeking some kind of asylum with her father, who was questioned heavily, but who they had to let go, because of course, he knew nothing of his daughter's life, and hadn't for nearly twelve years.

Others, however, thought that Grey had been the victim of human trafficking, or a gang kidnapping, or a cult, or any number of similar things, and that Sensei had just gotten in the way, and was therefore disposed of. Plenty of people expected that Grey would be found, dead, piece by piece, in dumpsters all across the city; or else be shipped off to work as a sex slave in some foreign country, or at least in another city.

"She's probably half a world away by now…" one article had quoted.

Oh, if they only knew…

No matter what people had been saying on the street and to the media, the police still wanted her to come in for questioning about the murder; but it seemed to Grey that they were being quite evasive about whether or not they thought she'd actually committed the crime. This was made especially evident when one of the reporters at the press conference she'd watched a video of had brought up the fact that the wounds on Grey's sensei were very similar to those found on the pervious victims of the unknown murderer or murderers who'd been stalking the streets of LA before the incident. They'd ended the press conference after that. There had also been a lot of government-looking types poking around lately, some other article had noted, and that since the federal government didn't usually gent involved in cases like this, the conspiracy theorists had come out in droves to postulate on the reasons for their presence.

She felt terrible when she read Emilia's heartbreaking interview, asking Grey to come back, if she was able, and for God to grant her peace, if she was dead; and since Grey knew her previous caretaker to be a devout Catholic, she knew that her prayers were indeed sincere, and not just a show for the reporters. Doubtless, she'd still say a prayer for her every time she went to church, and light candles at the little shrine in the living room, as she did for all the girls who, for reasons of their own, had run away before.

It was too bad Grey couldn't let her know she was alright; but Ijane and Kantra had made her swear that she wouldn't make any social media accounts or comments or anything else, once Kwei had explained the gist of those things to them, and she was fine with keeping up her end of the deal.

Still, she was agitated for awhile about all the speculation and rumors; almost to the point where she wished Kwei wouldn't have given her the phone at all. But, the fact that it could scan the environment and tell her what was and wasn't safe to eat was a huge win, and it almost made her forget about her previous irritation with the stupidity of her species.

Since she'd never really been an Internet addict back on Earth, Grey had no real trouble staying off her phone for extended periods now that she lived with the Yautja. She couldn't imagine what would happen if someone who had an addiction to texting, social media or games came here; it almost embarrassed her to think of them trying to text emojis to someone while a Yautja attempted to get their attention for training, and she made doubly sure that such a thing never happened between her and Ijane.

"What is this "Internet" actually for? What is its purpose?" Ijane asked, when Grey tried to explain it to her on the final day of Kantra's visit.

Grey thought for a minute, before answering.

"Pornography and cats, mostly."

**0000000000**

When the day finally arrived for Kantra to return to the Thwei-Luar-Ke Clan and his Arbitrator duties, Ijane and Grey set about preparing a huge dinner for him, including a kind of shellfish stew that was rarely made by the Yautja, as few of them had the time or inclination to collect the ingredients. Grey volunteered for this task, and spend several hours down on her hands and knees on the lake's sandy shores, meticulously digging out the tiny, scallop-like shellfish-called pori-and putting them in to a water-filled bucket, lest they die and start to stink in the hot sun.

Generally, she didn't like going down there, because she was likely to meet the teenaged female Yautja, who seemed to regard her almost like a pet or plaything; even though she was actually older than a few of them! They tended to talk to her like she was either a baby or pet or something else that couldn't grasp what they were saying, and kept going on about how unfortunate it was that she, as an ooman, would never be sought after by a fine, handsome Hunter to be the mother of his offspring (which, as Vi'ren had told her, was impossible, as Yautja and humans were incapable of breeding, even in the highly unlikely event that a male were interested in her, and the even unlikelier event that one would actually admit to it), and thus, would spent her life alone. They remarked on what a pitiable creature she was, and suggested brightly that she could be a kind of nanny for their own future pups.

"It's the closest you'll get to having any yourself." they said, clearly thinking they were sweetening the offer.

All Grey could do was force herself to smile and go about her business, since even the youngest among these females was taller than herself, and at least twice as strong.

She didn't meet any of them today, though, and when she returned with two buckets full of the little pori, Ijane's honey-colored eyes widened in shock at how many she'd brought back, and explained that because of the time-consuming gathering of the creatures, there usually weren't many of them in the stew; but with the amount that Grey had brought back, they could have a feast fit for the Adjudicators, and praised Grey for her diligence.

While Ijane began the stew, Grey cleaned the shells, making sure to be careful, so they could be used later for Ijane's hair ornaments. The underside of these shells had a sheen like abalone, and as such, were highly sought after by females for their prettiness and uncommonness. Kantra was off in the forest, hunting keru to stock his own ship's pantry, leaving the two females to their work, since he, as Ijane lamented, had no real aptitude for cooking, beyond boiling water.

When he returned, carrying two medium-sized keru, one over each shoulder, and began to butcher them in the backyard, the stew was bubbling away, and two large loaves of n'eza bread, seasoned with herbs, were baking in the oven, filling the entire house with a scintillating aroma that Grey would remember fondly for the rest of her life.

"Sweet gods, that smells good!" the Arbitrator exclaimed, opening his mandibles wide, when he came into the room.

Grey had wondered a great deal how Yautja could smell anything, since they lacked any kind of nose that she could see; but Vi'ren had explained, in terms that the human could somewhat understand, that the insides of Yautja mandibles contained what might be compared to olfactory membranes, along with the insides of their mouths, and in reality, they were actually far better at detecting odors than humans. This also extended to pheromones, which made up the different kinds of musk that their species exuded, depending on the situation. Humans, he'd said, couldn't smell a Yautja's scent; though some of Earth's animals apparently could detect it quite well.

"You can thank Luar-ke for that, Kantra; she's been out gathering the pori all morning." Ijane said, adding some red-colored spice to the stew and stirring it with a large wooden spoon.

"I have not had pori in years…" the Arbitrator said quietly, and went to wash up before the meal, clearly enthusiastic about this rare treat.

Mjadi, Nanku and Di'Sedi were invited to join the meal, as there was more than enough in the enormous pot to feed all of them, and soon they were all sitting around the table, talking and listening to more of Kantra's tales of his travels. Nanku was absolutely enthralled by these stories, and Grey could tell that he was thinking of the many adventures he would have, once he became a Blooded Hunter.

"Cousin, will you come to the plaiting ceremony, when it is my time?" the young male asked, when there was a pause in the conversation.

Grey had been told that all prospective Yautja Hunters must go through the long, ritualized, highly-painful process of having their hair plaited into a kind of braid that was only worn by Hunters. Any sign of pain or protest would see the braids undone, and the whole thing would have to start over. This was made doubly embarrassing by the fact that the plaiting was done in a public setting; friends, family and possibly even future Clan brothers and Leaders were invited to attend and watch the ceremony, and no young male wanted their future comrades and superiors to see them fail.

"Perhaps; but my duties must come first. I will promise, however, to attend at least one of your sessions, Nanku; though you may not see me. This will, I think, strengthen your resolve to endure the ceremony." Kantra replied, and a look of pride came over Nanku's pale green face.

"When will your ceremony start, Nanku?" Grey asked, cutting a piece of n'eza bread for herself and passing the plate to Mjadi.

"In about three months' time. The ritual can last for months, and the day after the last session, I'll go off to start my Hunter training with the others." Nanku said proudly.

Grey remembered that several of the Clan's older male pups, whom she'd seen mostly when they were coming home from or heading to their "secret" forest training ground, had recently been seen congregating in small groups, talking quietly and occasionally looking at their hair with frowns or scowls on their faces. Now she understood that they were eagerly anticipating the time when they would undergo the plaiting ritual and take one more in the final few steps to become real Hunters…real Yautja…

"I do wonder, though," Mjadi mused aloud, looking with her head cocked at Grey, who sat across the table from her, "if Grey will be required to undergo the plaiting ritual, as well."

All eyes turned to the human, who had only recently requested that Ijane cut her hair short again, as it had gotten to that maddening point where it was too short to put into a proper ponytail or braid, but too long for her to just run a comb through. Although she had expressed some small disappointment that she wouldn't get to decorate Grey's hair with pretty ornaments, Ijane had done as she'd asked, and Grey's pixie cut had been touched up; Ijane was more confident with the scissors now, and was even able to get everything more or less even.

"Well, I really don't think it would work for her; her hair is so much finer than ours." Ijane said, after a moment's thought.

It wasn't just that Grey's hair was finer than that of the Yautja; she also sweated, which they didn't, and her skin shed a little more often than theirs did, meaning that she had to wash her hair far more often and more thoroughly than they did, and this couldn't be accomplished if she wore the tightly-plaited locks.

"But I thought Hunters _had_ to go through the plaiting ritual, or else they couldn't progress any further." Nanku pointed out.

"Normally, they do; but I think that some special exception will have to be made in this case. It should not be too difficult to convince the Elder of the situation." Kantra said, shrugging.

Though Grey wasn't exactly disappointed by this, it was, after all, one more thing that point out to the Yautja world how separate she still was, and always would be, from the rest of them.

Also, she couldn't help but think that she'd seen, just for a second, Ijane looking ever so slightly disappointed out of the corner of her eye…

**0000000000**

All of them went to see Kantra off, and Grey saw that, despite her obvious and understandable sadness at seeing her son go off again, she was, at least, happier than the last time Grey had seen her watch him leave. She'd realized long ago that Ijane's keeping her had not been entirely altruistic; she'd known full well that Kantra would be dropping in from time to time to check up on her, and it was apparent that this had been a big selling point in her deciding to take care of the human. Grey really didn't mind, though; she liked Ijane, and it seemed that the feeling was mutual.

It was weird though, she thought, as she lay on her back that night, staring into the darkness of her reclaimed room, how Kantra seemed to act around his mother. During his entire stay, she didn't think she'd once seen him look her fully in the face; and he always seemed to be so…uncomfortable and formal with her. What questions she asked him were met with short, simple answers, and he didn't seem to want to be alone with her for any length of time.

An outsider might have thought that this was simply the way all grown male Yautja acted toward their mothers once they were out of the house; but Grey had seen a couple of the other females' sons, who had come home for a brief visit, and noted that they were far more at ease with their Bearers than Kantra was with Ijane.

There was also the strange sort of tension that she'd sensed between Ijane and Mjadi. They didn't seem like rivals, or enemies; but there was just something…a coldness? No… It was just a kind of tension… They didn't fight or anything; but they lacked the kind of closeness that Grey had seen in other pairs of siblings, both human and Yautja, and there was just a weirdness in the air when they were in the same room together.

Maybe she was overthinking things.

"_And it's none of my damn business, anyway…"_ she thought, turning over.

But one thing that was her business was the thing that Kantra had brought up with her the previous day, having called her to the kitchen, where both he and his mother were waiting for her at the table.

The Arbitrator had then explained to her that he was fully aware of her limited lifespan in comparison with that of the average Yautja, and told her that there was a way to extend it far beyond what might normally be expected for a human.

All it would take, as she understood it, were regular transfusions of their neon-green blood, and she'd live for ages beyond what any human could hope for.

It just seemed so strange to her to think that humans had searched so long for the Fountain of Youth, or some Elixir of Life, or some other kind of way of attaining immortality or eternal youth; and here the Yautja had it-or the next best thing-flowing through their very veins!

It was so ironic, then, that they could live for so long, but chose-willingly chose-to embrace a lifestyle that ended so many of their lives centuries before they'd even begin to experience the signs of old age?

Yeah, that had to be the very _definition_ of irony right there.

And Kantra expected her to do the same.

"The choice is yours, Grey; I leave it up to you to decide." he'd said, but she knew he was thinking of her promise that she'd become a Huntress, and do whatever he recommended to help her along that path.

What should she _do_?

Most humans would have jumped at the chance to be practically immortal; but then, they wouldn't be expected to live the kind of life, to achieve the kind of goals, that Kantra had in mind for her.

If she refused, would they hold her down and make her go through with it?

No; Kantra had said it was up to her. Plus, he didn't seem like the type of person to do something like that.

She'd promised, though…

She wrestled with these thoughts, going back and forth, counting off pros and cons, until sleep finally came.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey, everybody!**

**I'm sorry this latest chapter has been so late; but I've been dealing with some personal family health issues lately, which has taken up any time I might have spent writing. Thankfully, everyone's okay now, so I can get back to this story.**

**Please forgive me if my writing seems a little lazy; but I've been out of the game, so to speak, for over two months now, and I have to re-read my story to remember everything that's going on.**

**And for everyone who's been waiting patiently for me to resume writing: thank you.**

**Chapter 19**

It was around two months later when the announcement of Nanku's braiding ritual reached Grey and Ijane, who had been training in the large, empty meeting hall of Di'Sedi's house, when the young Yautja had come in, an excited look on his face, and nearly out of breath from having run there at full speed from his house.

"One week! I'll begin the ritual in one week!" he said, his pride palpable as he beamed at his aunt and her human charge.

"That's very good, Nanku; your last step before you can begin your Hunter's training." Ijane said, nodding approvingly at her nephew.

Nanku had been getting a little antsy these past few weeks, hoping every day that the announcement would come that he, along with the five or six other males of the Lakeshore Clan who were finally old enough, would be called to the nearest temple to have their hair braided in the drawn-out, painful and public ritual that would mark the end of his life as a hot-headed, stubborn pup, and the beginning of his life as a dignified, respected Hunter. Already, he and the others had begun to go about the village as though their ceremony had already begun; or as though they were already Hunters. They no longer associated with the younger pups, male or female, seeing them as loud, hyperactive, insipid creatures far beneath the notice of aspiring young Hunters such as themselves.

Nor did they stick around their homes longer than they had to, finding the interaction with their mothers to be almost unbearable, as, according to their sons, they still treated them as though they were still on the breast.

They had, unsurprisingly, come to pester Ijane for stories of her time as a Huntress, her trophies, her adventures, her fights; absolutely _everything,_ as there were, of course, no older males around who could tell them such tales, since the mating season had ended just before Grey had arrived, meaning that there was generally no reason for any adult male to come to the village.

They had sat, spellbound, at Ijane's feet as she'd recounted her braiding ritual, her training, her chiva and when she was marked as a member of her all-female Hunting Clan (a real rarity among the Yautja), and several tales of the adventures she'd had on a myriad of strange and dangerous planets, including Earth.

The older female had looked a little uncomfortable when she'd held up the five human skulls for the young males, her honey-colored eyes occasionally flicking over to carefully study the look on her young charge's face.

It wasn't that she felt guilty, or ashamed of her kills, far from it; but though she admittedly didn't have the experience and wisdom of some of the older Hunters, she did have enough to know that it might be a little difficult for the ooman to see her trophies and hear about how she'd obtained them.

Grey, meanwhile, had found it a little unsettling, the way the young males occasionally looked at her after that. Not like they wanted to harm her or anything; but like they were trying to equate the bleached skulls of long-dead alien creatures to this female who had become a welcome addition to their group.

Once Ijane had started telling her Hunting stories, the males had gathered around Grey one afternoon, and pushed Nanku forward to ask if she had any interesting tales from Earth for them. They had seemed a bit disappointed to learn that Grey had, essentially, been doing the same things as they had all their lives: going to school (the Yautja mothers each taught their own children), karate class, living with her foster sisters, and generally just living in the city.

They'd listened with interest as she'd told them about the wars in human history, the samurai of ancient Japan, the knights of Europe, the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and many other events, Grey being a great lover of history and literature.

And when it came to literature, it at first seemed like they wouldn't be very interested. Grey knew that the Yautja did have their own literature (much of it about Hunting and fighting, of course); but it was mostly written and read by old, wise Philosophers, and didn't much interest younger Yautja, such as the ones with whom she kept company.

She'd managed to get them interested, however, when she began to tell them the story of Beowulf, and by the time she was done, they all left talking amongst themselves about the story, and came back the next day for more.

Over the next couple of months, she'd told them about King Arthur and his knights, the Journey to the West, Sundiata, Mwindo, The Hound of Ulster, the Iliad and the Odyssey, Ivanhoe, Gilgamesh, Tam Lin, Moby Dick, dozens of stories from Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Native American, African, Norse, Middle Eastern, European and Native American mythology. Of course, the Vikings, samurai and knights were their favorites, since they, according to the young males, seemed so similar to the Yautja warriors.

"How do you know of all these things?" Nanku had asked her one day, as the others had filtered away back to their homes, talking excitedly about that day's story.

"I didn't have any friends, so I read books…a lot of books." Grey admitted, shrugging, and Nanku let the subject drop.

**0000000000**

Two days before the ritual found Grey and the group of males standing on a small cliff at the edge of the lake, looking down into the water below.

Since they'd found out that their worry that they'd end up having to wait another season to begin their plaiting ritual, they'd all been in good spirits; and so, on a warm, cloudless day, one of them had suggested going for a swim.

One thing Grey had discovered about living with the Yautja was that they-or at least, the teenage males-seemed to take every opportunity life offered them to do some spectacularly stupid shit.

It was this thought that crossed Grey's mind as she and the rest of them stared down into the water below.

Ijane had made her a kind of swimsuit a couple of months ago, of dark green material that felt like silk, but was extremely durable, and often used to make rain-resistant cloaks for those who wished or had to travel on foot through rainy weather. Normally, the males, since they'd only be around each other, would be completely naked when they took a swim; but seeing as Grey was among their number today, had decided to keep their loincloths on, and Grey was grateful for this.

"I'm sure it's fine." one of the males said, picking up a small rock and tossing it into the water below. It made an oddly-satisfying _plunk_ sound when it hit the water, sending several tiny fish swimming away.

"I don't think it's deep enough." Grey observed.

"It's plenty deep." another male said.

"I can see the damn rocks at the bottom!" Grey retorted, a little irritated, as she watched the little fish regrouping.

"That's just because the water is so clear." the first male said.

"I'm not jumping in there." Grey said, after a minute, and a couple of the others, including Nanku, muttered in agreement.

"S'yuit-de. And you claim you wish to be a Huntress? Disgraceful!" the male said, shaking his head in disappointment and disgust.

At that point, Grey had had enough.

"Fuck you, call me a coward! You can all jump off there if you want to; but I'm out! Call me a coward? I'll be the coward _not_ paralyzed from the neck down! Screw you guys, I'm going home!" she yelled, and took off in a huff, a few of the other males, clearly thinking better of diving off the cliff, waited a moment, then began following her.

The next day, Grey was out in the market, getting some fresh greens for a dish Ijane planned to make that night, when she saw the male again. His arm was in a sling, and he had a decidedly grouchy look on his face as he followed behind an equally-grouchy looking female who must have been his mother.

"Not a pauk-de word, ooman!" he growled, as she passed him, basket in hand.

"Watch your mouth, and don't take out your anger on her. From what I heard, she and a couple of the others were the only ones who demonstrated any common sense yesterday." his mother said, turning around from her shopping and glaring at her son.

Grey bowed her head, eyes down, in a gesture of respect to the female, whom she'd seen around, but hadn't really talked to, aside from the occasional polite greeting, since she'd come here.

"Don't scold him, Mother; he's hurt!" a young female, probably one of his sisters, piped up from where she stood at her mother's side, clinging to her dress.

"Hush, child! He's hurt because he jumped off a cliff into water that even a pup could have seen was too shallow; and the others followed him, the young fools!" she said.

"They jumped, too?" Grey asked, trying not to laugh, but also feeling a mix of pity and irritation at their stupidity.

"Oh, yes! Granted, this one-" she gestured to her son, "has the worst injuries among the lot; but the other three had to go to the physician to get sorted out as well. Their mothers likewise took it upon themselves to keep a closer eye on them for awhile; they are in the market today, too." the female said, gesturing over Grey's head, to where two of the other males, sporting bandages of varying sizes, and one with a clearly broken mandible, walked miserably behind a pair of females carrying shopping baskets.

"Of course, it was a female who had enough sense not to jump off there with them; that cliff is only good for diving for about three months out of the year in the wet season, and it's been so since before my grandmother came here."

"Mother, can't we just finish the shopping and go home? You still have to finish making my robe for the plaiting ceremony…" the male said impatiently, a hint of a plaintive whine in his voice. The look on his face as he looked at Grey both dared her to say anything about his condition, and pleaded with her not to, and she couldn't help but feel a little bad for him.

"You're just lucky you broke your arm, and not your neck; otherwise, there would _be_ no ceremony for you! Really, every time there's a new batch of young males nearing their plaiting ceremony, they get to thinking they're already Blooded Hunters and start showing off, acting like idiots, and doing everything they can to kill themselves before they even begin training! I swear…"

And with this, the female, with her son behind, went on about business, grumbling to herself all the while.

**0000000000**

The day of the plaiting ritual dawned hot, as was usual for this time of year, and as she busied herself with getting ready, Ijane kept asking Grey if she was certain that she felt all right in the heat.

Grey assured her that she was okay, and helped her caretaker adorn her long hair with several beautiful ornaments that tinkled pleasantly in the light breeze that played through the trees as they walked outside and to the village gate, where they found Nanku and Mjadi, Di'Sedi, and the other young males and their mothers. Several of these males, Grey saw, still sported some small injuries from their ill-advised dive off the cliff; and the one of them who had called her a coward-his name was V'kha-was still wearing a sling on his injured arm.

"Is it wise, do you think, to let her come with us?" V'kha asked, motioning to Grey, a look of concern, and slight apprehension, on his face. He seemed to have gained a bit of respect for the human when she, unlike several of the others, had refrained from taking every opportunity to say that he'd end up killing himself in some stupid stunt before the _kiande_ _amedha_ had the chance.

"Why should she not? There is nothing that says an ooman isn't allowed to attend the ceremony." Ijane said, always quick to defend her young charge.

"I only mean that there's going to be a large crowd at the temple; and aside from us and Arbitrator Kantra, no one has seen Grey yet." the male said, shifting uncomfortably as the former Huntress glared at him.

"He's right, Aunt Ijane; some of the other initiates might do something foolish." Nanku pointed out.

"Not while I breathe, they won't…" Ijane growled, and Grey nearly shivered with the threat in her voice.

"Grey will stay close to us, and there will be no need for any of that." Di'Sedi said, with a tone of finality, which seemed to satisfy everyone.

Soon, the silvery, sleek transport ship descended gracefully from the sky and landed before them, extending the ramp for them to ascend.

Kantra had offered, several times, to have a special ship sent for his mother and family; but Ijane had said that such a thing would be silly, and declined. As she ascended the ramp and took a look around, though, Grey kind of wished that she'd agreed to his offer.

As they'd been boarding, there had been an excited buzzing in the air, made up of the young males and their mothers and siblings talking amongst themselves; but when they saw Grey among the newcomers, every single one of them became instantly silent, and more than two dozen pairs of eyes, in various shades of yellow, brown and green, turned in her direction. Heads cocked, mandibles clicked and twitched, and the rest of the passengers looked from Grey, to her companions, and back to each other, as if trying to see if they were indeed seeing an ooman in their midst.

"Stay near me, Luar-ke." Ijane said, unnecessarily, as the party made their way through the gawking crowd to find some seats together.

Unsurprisingly, it was the males of Nanku's age who stared at her the most intently, obviously trying to make sense of her presence among them, and likely thinking of all the stories they'd probably heard from their fathers, uncles and older brothers aboud the clever, dangerous beings that inhabited the far-away planet on which these odd creatures lived.

Nanku and the other Lakeshore Clan males filed away to join their counterparts, probably to ask about their families and future plans as Hunters, while the females, including Ijane, went over to sit together with some others from another village, leaving Grey feeling like a fool for standing out in the open like this.

She was distracted, however, when a few of the new males, keeping a wary eye on the females with whom she'd arrived, came over and began peering intently at her, giving her an uncomfortable flashback to when she'd been a half-starved, half-feral, naked "guest" on the Blood Moon Clan's ship, and the Young Bloods had sneaked into the medical bay to have a look at her, despite Kantra's warnings.

She only hoped this encounter would go better than that one; she wasn't in any hurry to be smacked up against the underside of another medical machine…

"They say you can understand our tongue?" the largest male said, though he spoke slowly, as though Grey were either deaf or slow.

"They didn't lie." she replied.

"You're an ooman." he said, crossing his arms and continuing to stare at her.

"I know."

"Why are you here?"

"On this ship, or with the Yautja?"

"With our kind. The males from your village say you have been living there for several months. Why?"

"Arbitrator Kantra brought me."

This set several of them to whispering. Obviously, Kantra's reputation was as widespread as she'd heard. That was good; they were less likely to start trouble if they knew she was under his protection.

Hopefully.

"Did he bring you as a trophy? A servant? A pet?" another one of them asked.

"None of the above. I was taken by some of the Exiled Bad Bloods and let loose on one of their illicit Hunting planets. The Arbitrator was there Hunting the Bad Bloods, and decided to take me with him."

"And make you a Huntress?" the first male inquired, cocking his head curiously.

"That's his plan, yeah." Grey said, shrugging.

"You are training under the Lady Ijane, are you not? The mother of Arbitrator Kantra?" another male asked, and all eyes turned to Grey with great interest.

"I live with her, and she's training me, yes." Grey said, and they began whispering among themselves.

"I heard she was a great Huntress, many years ago; before-" the first male began, but Ijane interrupted his sentence by walking up to Grey and putting an enormous hand on her shoulder.

"Come and sit with us, Luar-ke; I do not wish to become seperated when we get to the temple." she said, gently steering Grey over to where the other females sat and, Grey thought, giving the young males a kind of…look…as she passed, and they went back to their seats, as well.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Blinking in the sudden brightness of the sunlight, Grey could see that theirs was not the only sleek, silvery transport ship that had been requisitioned for use that day.

At least five more of the craft were sitting in the huge, open area in front of the massive, ancient temple, and as she craned her neck a bit, Grey saw that there were a number of smaller ships that must have been the personal conveyances of the fully-grown Hunters who were attending the ceremony.

"_I wonder if Kantra's here yet…"_ the human thought, straining to see if she could see his now-familiar ship. She couldn't see it, though, and decided that he either hadn't arrived yet, or she simply couldn't see his ship, with the limited view with which she was currently presented.

"Do you think he'll be here?" she heard Nanku ask, echoing her own thoughts at the moment.

"I think he will, yes." Ijane replied, and Grey knew that Ijane was even more anxious than her nephew to see the esteemed Arbitrator that was her son.

As she descended the ship's ramp, Grey got her first look at the Yautja temple.

The structure was made of a kind of pinkish, marble-looking stone, delicately veined with shades of black and grey. The place, she thought, must have stood there for a very long time, since it almost seemed to be a part of the dense jungle that surrounded it.

Massive stone pillars rose into the air, supporting arches, and casting dark shadows on the ground below. The walls of the temple were adorned with what must have been thousands of carvings, and though the stone was well-weathered from ages of rain, wind and sun, Grey could still make out what was etched into the stone: Strange creatures curled around the massive columns, looking perhaps like giant, impossibly terrifying centipedes, while carvings of_ kiande amedha_ battled with those of legendary Yautja Hunters, their spears and blades raised against the terrible claws, tails and mouths of their adversaries. Here and there were large sections of text, though Grey was too far away at this point to make any of it out clearly; though it was probably either some kind of prayer or perhaps a kind of account of something significant that happened in the Yautjas' incredibly long history.

Her eyes were soon drawn away from the magnificent temple, however, by the incredible sight of all the Yautja who were in attendance; the females, anyway.

There must have been more than two hundred of them, all dressed in their absolute finest, and all, like Grey's group, milling about outside the temple.

All of them were wearing bright colors: dresses, tunics, halter tops, tube tops, sashes, long skirts, and even a few in long, flowing pants, and many of these were adorned with exquisite patterns or carefully embroidered with Clan insignias or symbols of good fortune. The glinting of their jewelry and hair ornaments kept catching Grey's eye, and every neck and wrist seemed to have some kind of adornment. Gold and silver (or the Yautja approximation of it) glittered in the sunlight, and all of them had seen fit to adorn their hair with beautiful beads and long wraps of colorful thread, while some of them even wore what looked like very fine gold and silver chains woven into the locks.

The young initiates, by contrast, were incredibly plain, dressed as they were in their tan ritual robes, with the only ornamentation being their Clan symbol stitched onto the breast. Their mothers had made these robes over the past few days, and as Ijane had told Grey, they would be burned in a special ceremony, on the night of their final plaiting ritual.

As drab as they were by comparison, the males nevertheless held their heads up with unassailable pride; as though each of them wore the finest armor ever made.

"Will cousin Kantra be sitting with us?" she heard Nanku ask, on Ijane's other side.

"No; he will be with the other Hunters. They have their own private balcony that overlooks the amphitheater." Di'Sedi replied.

This was kind of a letdown for Grey, who'd really been looking forward to seeing Kantra again; but she cheered up immensely when she remembered that he would be coming back to the village with them after the ceremony to partake in the traditional meal.

It was then that she noticed that many of those around her in the crowd appeared to have noticed her, and more and more of them were turning as their friends grabbed their arms or clothes to get their attention. The sound of hushed whispering began to remind Grey strongly of the sound of the strong winds that sometimes blew through the huge trees of the forest surrounding the village, and she became a bit nervous as more and more of them turned to look in their direction.

"It's all right, Luar-ke. Just stay close to me." Ijane said, putting a large, yet comforting, hand on Grey's shoulder. Though she doubted that any of the females would actually attack, she did feel immensely better knowing that Ijane was so close to her.

Soon though, it seemed like every single head was turned in their direction, and Grey found herself beginning to wish that she'd stayed home, and that V'kha and Nanku were probably right in their apprehension about bringing her along.

Suddenly, a loud, metallic ringing made them all jump slightly and look around, breaking their concentration on the human in their midst.

There, on the wide, sun-bleached landing of the stairs in the front of the temple, stood several female Yautja in long white robes, embroidered in gold and silver, and their hair reaching almost to the ground. The loud clanging had come from what looked like a huge gong-like thing, beside which another female stood, holding a long stick that was probably used to strike the thing.

Once they saw these females, every single member of the crowd turned in their direction, and the whispering that had permeated the landing field died down instantly, to the point where the silence was louder than the whispering itself.

"The ceremony will begin now. All of the initiates, come with me. Once we have departed, the families of the initiates may take their places in the seats around the dais." one of the females, clearly the head priestess, judging by her age and the authoritative way in which she spoke, said, loudly and clearly.

Silently, all of the males made their way through the crowd to stand before this aged female, and, as one, knelt respectfully at her feet, before she nodded, and they rose, then followed her through the huge doors and vanished from sight.

A few minutes later, all of those remaining in the crowd began to file inside, as silently as ghosts.

Ijane had told her the day before that none were supposed to speak while the ceremony was going on, and that, Grey figured, was the only thing that kept the others in the huge crowd from resuming their whispering about her as they made their way through the temple's high-ceilinged corridors. The change from the bright sunlight to the cool darkness of the temple had made it almost impossible for her to see at first, but Ijane surreptitiously put a hand on her shoulder and guided her along until she could see properly again.

They were led out into a huge, circular area, where the seats had been arranged like those of the amphitheaters of Earth, leading down, stair-like, to a large dais in the center, upon which the temple's head priestess and a few of her acolytes now stood, waiting patiently until all had taken their seats, before she began to speak again.

"Today we begin the ritual that will mark the beginning of these young males' lives as Hunters. We Yautja have performed this ritual since before we first set out to explore what lies beyond our own world. Even when we were planet-bound, and the Clans warred with each other, we would still come together to perform this rite. Today will be the first of nine, and once the ninth plaiting is done, the initiates will depart their mothers' homes forever, to begin their lives as Hunters, and bring honor to themselves, their offspring, and their Clans. Let the sacred rite begin!" she finished, her strong, clear voice echoing throughout the amphitheater.

It was then that Grey noticed what must have been the oldest female Yautja she'd ever seen making her way slowly to the platform, flanked by two much younger female attendants, each of whom held what looked like a censer.

Ijane had told her previously that there were priestesses whose sole duty was the plaiting of the young males' hair for this ceremony. They were highly revered, and trained for decades to perform these rituals. This must have been the female who would be plaiting Nanku and the others' hair, Grey reasoned, as the female made her way up onto the dais and settled herself on a low stool, straightening out her robes as she did so.

For a few moments, nothing happened; but then, the priestess from before, who'd given the opening speech, looked at a tablet in her hands and began to read the names of the initiates.

"Kha'ri-de, of the Shifting Sands Clan!" she called, and the young male nervously stepped forth, and made his way up to the dais to kneel at the feet of the old Yautja female.

The female then began to carefully inspect his hair, which, like all the other males' hair, had been unbraided the night before and thoroughly washed in preparation for today. One she had done this, an acolyte brought forth an ornate, lacquered wooden box, which she set carefully beside her and bowed herself off the dais. Another acolyte then brought forth a small metal cauldron, which she set over a small fire, and then a large bowl, which was also set on a small table beside the ancient female.

This old female opened the box and brought forth a sturdy-looking metal comb, which she dipped into the small cauldron, before beginning to run it through the hair of the male before her.

"The female who braids the young males' hair will apply a sacred oil to it before she begins." Ijane had told her the day before, so Grey wasn't left wondering what was going on before her.

Once she'd applied this oil, the female got to work on braiding the male's hair. Though he didn't show it, as was the condition of the ritual, Grey had been told that this was an incredibly painful experience, meant to test the initiates' commitment to becoming a Hunter.

The entire process took around thirty minutes, after which only a handful of his hair had been plaited; though he had passed the first part of the initiation without showing or voicing any pain.

In total, there were more than thirty initiates; and Grey watched as a number of them, including Nanku, V'kha and the others from the Lakeshore Clan, went through the ritual. When the sky began to grow dark, the old female rose, stretched herself, and began to make her way back into the temple, while the head priestess made another announcement:

"The ritual is completed for today! The young males who have already undergone the ceremony and their families needn't return tomorrow. For the rest, you will eat and sleep at the temple tonight, and finish your own ritual tomorrow! You are all dismissed for today!"

With this, almost half of the females in the place rose and began silently filing back out of the temple, this time led by several young acolytes with brightly-burning torches held out before them. As she walked with the others through the temple, Grey could smell what must have been some kind of incense; it wasn't unpleasant, though she'd never smelled anything quite like it before.

When they arrived outside, she saw that a number of large stone braziers had been lit, illuminating the outside of the temple so that those returning to the ships could see better in the darkness.

They were about to board their ship, when another hush fell over the crowd, and they turned to see the head priestess from earlier making her way through the crowd, her gauzy white robe fluttering around her legs as she walked, making her appear almost to glide or float along. She stood before Grey's group, seeming unsure of what to say, but soon found her tongue again.

"You are of the Lakeshore Clan, I am told." she said, looking at the group.

"We are, Priestess. How may we be of service?" Di'Sedi asked. As the Matriarch of the Clan, she was the most qualified to speak with the other female, and while Grey knew her to be respectful, she was also not one who would be easily cowed.

"I have come to speak with you about your…companion here." she said, nodding at Grey, who'd known all along that her presence was bound to cause a stir, sooner or later.

"Has she given you some cause for offense?" Di'Sedi asked, calmly.

"She, herself, has not; but the other priestesses and I feel that her presence here is a…distraction. Today was a day for the young males of these fine Clans; and during the ceremony, I noticed many heads turning in the direction of this ooman here. We feel that it takes away from both the gravity of this ceremony and the sanctity to have such a creature here." the priestess said, and Grey felt her face grow red in the semi-darkness of the evening.

"It's an insult, is what it is!" she heard a female in the crowd hiss to someone, and her face became hot with both embarrassment and budding rage.

Clearly, Ijane had also heard the female, for Grey felt her tense up as she put a large hand on her shoulder, intending to comfort her.

"It is because of this that I must ask that you not bring her here again. The rest of your family and Clan may, of course, return for your initiates' ritual; but please, leave this one at home." the priestess finished, nodding to Grey as she did so.

"But she herself intends to become a Huntress one day, and she has several friends among the Clans' initiates; should she not be allowed to watch the ceremony? You yourself said that she has given no cause for offense." came a familiar male voice.

They all turned to see Kantra walking slowly and purposefully through the crowd, which parted to let him pass. He was wearing an impressive set of silvery armor of the kind that was only used for rituals and the like, and several of the females let out involuntary trills of interest as he passed them.

"Arbitrator, I am afraid that you have no say in this matter." one of the other priestesses said.

"But I am the one who brought her to live among our people; do you think I would have done so, had I thought that she might cause some kind of trouble?"

"Certainly not, and as I said: she herself gave no reason for offense; but her presence here is, again, as I said, a distraction. Some would even say that she does not belong in such a sacred place at all."

"She has done nothing wrong." Ijane said quietly.

"We don't want her here!" another priestess said loudly, dropping all pretenses.

"We made enough of an exception with the Arbitrator, in his youth!" another added, and a muttering began in the crowd.

"Ouch!" Grey yelped, as she felt Ijane's hand tighten painfully on her shoulder.

Kantra was quiet for a few moments.

"If those are your feelings on the subject, then I must respect them. You will not see her here again. Good evening." he said at last, in a low voice, then bowed to the clerics.

"Mother, Grandmother, Mjadi, Nanku, Grey… You will all ride home on my ship with me. Come along." he said. It wasn't a request, and even Mjadi made no protest as they followed behind the large male, and none of them spoke as they boarded the ship, though all of them could feel the eyes of the crowd on their backs…


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey, everybody!**

**Sorry it's been so long; but I'm back, and I'm going to try and get back in the hang of updating regularly again!**

**Chapter 21**

The flight back to the Lakeshore Village from the Great Temple seemed to take so much longer than the one going to there; probably because of the near-complete silence that had fallen on the group within the vessel.

Nanku and Mjadi sat beside one of the large windows, looking out at the passing scenery below and thinking their own private thoughts, while Di'Sedi watched Ijane, who was watching Kantra with an unreadable expression on her face. The Arbitrator, meanwhile, was intentionally keeping himself occupied with flying the ship manually, even though the autopilot was in perfect working order.

"_He probably doesn't want any excuse to have to talk to anyone."_ Grey thought, looking at him from where she sat in the far corner, purposely away from the Yautja.

Well, that did make sense, considering that he'd basically been humiliated in front of a rather large crowd, along with his mother and several members of his family.

"_And it's all my fault."_ Grey thought miserably, looking at her hands, which were folded in her lap.

She couldn't believe how today had turned out. Not only had her presence brought embarrassment to Kantra, who was an Arbitrator, a title which had to command an enormous deal of respect; but she'd also brought shame to Ijane, who had been good to her since the first day she'd arrived here. What would she think of her human charge now, since she'd been publically humiliated for bringing her outside the village? Would she decide that training Grey, or allowing her to live with her at all, was far too much trouble? Would she tell Kantra to take Grey with him when he left?

And Di'Sedi, Grey thought, was the Matriarch of the Lakeshore Clan. Surely something like this might call her judgement or authority into question? Would the other females begin to question if she were still the best choice for a leader?

Mjadi, too, was probably not Grey's biggest fan right now, either. Not only had the human embarrassed Ijane, Di'Sedi and Kantra, but herself and her son as well. It was too bad, too; Mjadi had only just started really getting used to Grey's presence…

But the one she really felt bad for was Nanku. What must the young males from the other clans think of him, being associated with someone who had drawn the ire of the temple's priestesses, simply by being there? Today was supposed to be his day; and Grey had, though completely unintentionally, ruined it. She hoped that, when he went back for his next session, the other males wouldn't seize upon the opportunity to make fun of him for this.

There were also, she'd been told, Elders from some of the Hunting clans among the males who'd come to watch their sons and younger brothers' ceremonies; what would they think, when they heard about this? Would it take Nanku and the others out of the running to be trained by a good teacher, and accepted into one of the high-ranking clans they all had their hearts set upon?

Had Grey ruined their futures?

A sudden, gentle shake of her shoulder drew Grey's attention, and she looked up to see Ijane, whose face held an expression of mixed puzzlement and worry as she looked down at the human.

"Hm?" Grey said.

"We're here, Luar-ke; we've arrived back at the village. Come along, now." the Yautja said quietly, and led her down the ramp.

As it was every night, the torches at and near the village's gates had been lit, so their way into the village proper was illuminated by flickering yellow-orange light.

They walked through the village, seeing that some of the females were outside cooking on fire pits, taking in the day's laundry, and trying to get their offspring to come into their homes for dinner. Here and there, Grey could see a few of the teenage females coming home from their long day of hanging out and gossiping at the lake, and a few of the males who'd been too young for their own plaiting ritual, were coming back from their "secret" kehrite, covered in dirt and perhaps a bit of blood from that day's sparring sessions, only to be chased out by their irate mothers, who demanded they wash up in the backyard before setting one clawed foot in their nice, clean houses.

Grey couldn't help but smirk a bit as she saw one of these yelping and growling in protest as his mother, clearly not satisfied with his own handiwork in cleaning himself, chased him out into the backyard with a bucket of water, grabbed him, and began, unceremoniously, to scrub him herself, grumbling loudly that she'd told him time and time again to wash up before coming back home and, with a loud _smack!_ to his naked bottom, sent him, scurrying and yelping, back inside the house.

"Come along, Luar-ke." Ijane said again, and they all got moving toward Ijane's house, remaining mercifully unseen by the others in the village. Grey was glad of this; she didn't want to see the faces of the other females and their offspring when they found out that their group had essentially been kicked out of the temple, because of the human Ijane had so generously allowed to stay with her.

Once they got inside, closing the door firmly behind them, there was a collective sigh from the entire group. Whether it was from relief to be back from their ordeal, Grey didn't know; but followed along with them when they all sank onto the cushions in the sunken pit in the middle of the living room.

The silence continued for a few more minutes, until Grey couldn't take it anymore. Someone _had_ to say something; and since this whole fiasco was pretty much her fault, it seemed only right that it should be her.

"I'm so, _so_ sorry everyone…" she said quietly, and immediately felt every other pair of eyes in the room turn in her direction.

"I never meant to embarrass any of you… I… I can't even begin to say how much I wish I'd just stayed home this morning. You were right, Mjadi; I should probably just stick to the village from now on… Nanku, I… I never wanted to embarrass you like that, or any of the others; I just wanted to see your special day… I was as proud of you and the others as everyone else… Ijane, you took me in to train me, and now… I knew there would be a lot of Yautja who didn't want me here, and I could handle that; and to be honest, I even sort of understood where they were coming from… But I didn't want anyone to come down on you like that because of me…you or Di'Sedi… You're the Matriarch; you can't have crap like that happening…dishonoring your Clan like that…in public…"

As she continued with the apology, Grey realized that she'd begun to cry, the big, fat tears falling freely into her lap as she desperately tried to apologize to the few people on this planet that really seemed to want her around. She hadn't cried like this since she'd learned of the death of her beloved sensei…

But no; she'd cried in front of Ijane, pretty soon after coming here. She'd spilled her guts to her new guardian about her past, her sensei…and Ijane had embraced her as she would have done one of her own offspring. It had felt…nice…and she secretly wished that the former Huntress would repeat the action; though she was pretty sure at this point that any kind of affection was out of the question from now on.

Almost as though she could read her mind, Grey felt herself being embraced by a pair of powerful arms, yet very gentle, arms, and looked up to see Ijane, her golden eyes as soft as they had been the night she'd first done this for the little human in her care. By instinct, she began the deep, continuous rumbling-almost like a big cat's purr-that all Yautja did automatically when they were trying to establish a sense of calm, for themselves or someone they cared for, and began to lightly stroke the human's dark hair as she did so.

Slowly, Grey found that she was, indeed, becoming calmer. She hadn't really cried like that at the group home… Crying was considered a sign of weakness, and there was an unwritten rule that the weakest one among the group was the scapegoat, the alibi, the one upon whom unwanted chores could be freely thrust, and, of course, the occasional punching bag.

"Hush, pup… Hush, now…" Ijane said quietly, intensifying the rumbling a bit, and feeling the little ooman begin to relax a bit in her arms. Suddenly, a damp cloth was offered to her, and she looked up to see her sister. Mjadi had apparently been as moved by Luar-ke's pleas for forgiveness as Ijane had, and was beginning to add her own rumbling to her sister's.

Gently, Ijane began to clean her charge's face, wiping away the tears, which had ceased to flow so freely now, and were replaced instead with the occasional hiccup. She could seen fresh shame on the child's face now, and decided to set things straight with her, once and for all.

"You," she said, gently lifting the pup's head so she could look into her face, "have done _nothing_ wrong, Luar-ke. You conducted yourself well inside the temple and during the ceremony; and you were even silent and respectful when you had been singled out and insulted. You bore yourself with pride, this day…like a Yautja."

That did make Grey feel a little better; though in truth, she had only remained so quiet because she was so surprised at being called out in front of all the others there that she couldn't say anything… Still, at this point, she was willing to accept any kind words, and nodded to her caretaker.

"My sister is right." Mjadi said quietly, her fierce green eyes shining as she looked at her younger sibling.

"You did nothing wrong today, Grey; you even came to give your support to my son… I will not forget that…any more than I will forget how the priestesses attempted to bring us shame for bringing you… They, not you, brought humiliation upon my son and the other males in attendance today; in this, you are blameless." the reddish-brown Yautja continued, giving the human an approving look.

"It seems I've taught my daughters well." Di'Sedi said, the pride evident in her face as she looked at her children.

"But Kantra… He can't have people questioning his authority because of me!" Grey protested quietly, looking at the large Arbitrator, who had moved a bit closer to the three females during their little motivational speech.

"That… I will deal with on my own… As I said back at the temple: there are no laws forbidding your attendance, and as such, the priestesses have brought shame only to themselves." he growled, clearly still angered by the earlier words of the old females at the temple.

"_We made an exception with __**you**__, Arbitrator…"_

Vaguely, Grey wondered what they'd meant, but pushed it out of her mind for now.

Which was just as well, since a loud knocking at the door made all of them turn their heads quickly, Ijane's tendrils smacking Grey in the face as she did so.

Upon opening the door, Ijane was almost bowled over by Nuini, who came rushing inside the dwelling, a look of incredulity on her face, and a fussing Dami in his sling on her back.

"The other young males have returned…! Is what they're saying true?" she asked, seeming to be slightly out of breath. Grey knew by now that it took a lot to get a Yautja winded; so for Nuini to be in such a state, she would have had to have been running all over the village before coming here.

"What _are_ they saying, exactly?" Di'Sedi inquired, in her usual calm voice, though Grey knew that she was likely taking stock of the whole situation.

"The others are saying," Nuini began, sitting down beside Grey on the cushion and adjusting her sling so that Dami was in the front, "that the temple priestesses came out after the ceremony and told all of you to leave, because you'd brought Grey with you, and they said she didn't belong and that they didn't want her there."

Clearly, the looks on everyone's faces told her everything she needed to know.

"So, it's true then?" she said, handing her son, who had been reaching out for Grey, opening and closing his little clawed hands for her to pick him up.

"Yes. It is true." Kantra confirmed quietly.

"They're also saying that they even insulted you, Arbitrator Kantra; about how they made an exception for you because-"

"That part is true, as well, so there is no need to speak further on it." Ijane said, her voice ever so slightly raised as she looked at her friend, who seemed to get the message, and changed the subject.

"All of the young males are going around the village saying they're going to find a different temple; one that will allow Grey to come see their ceremonies. Apparently, they're quite angry at how you were treated, Grey." Nuini said to the human, who was at that moment trying to keep Dami from putting her hand in his mouth.

"They're doing _what_?" Grey asked, looking up from the pup in surprise. The others all seemed to be just as interested in this newest bit of news as she was, and came closer to hear her better.

"Oh, yes… They're all upset about this whole thing, as are their mothers. The males are all wondering why the Arbitrator didn't simply assert his authority and tell them they _had_ to allow Grey to watch; and their mothers feel that, if the priestesses felt they had to ask Grey to leave, they should have at least done so in private, as there was no need to make a public spectacle of the whole thing. Granted, though, a few are of the opinion that Ijane and Matriarch Di'Sedi should have asked ahead of time if it would be permissible to bring Grey along…"

Grey listened to all of this, surprised and heartened by the show of support from the young males of the Clan.

"Maybe we should have called ahead…" the human admitted, as Dami began to settle down in her lap for a snooze, beginning to rumble slightly in his contentment.

"You had as much right to be there as anyone else, Grey." Nanku said firmly, speaking for the first time since they'd left the temple.

"Arbitrator Kantra brought you here to train you and educate you as a Yautja. You're going to be dedicating your life to the Hunt, the same as any of us who went to the temple today." he finished, with a little chuff of irritation.

"Well said, my nephew." Ijane said, with an approving nod in the younger male's direction.

"But what am I going to do now?" Grey asked, gently stroking Dami's little head as he continued to sleep, his tiny mandibles occasionally twitching.

"What you will do," Kantra growled, glaring fiercely at her, "is continue your training. You will take your chiva when the time comes, become part of Thwei-Luar-ke, and you will Hunt and bring honor and glory to all those who have come before and will come after. You will become a fine Huntress, and conduct yourself with so much dignity and pride that your worth, your existence, your presence…will never again be questioned by ANYONE!"

He roared the last word, his mandibles flared, back slightly arched, and fists balled up so tightly that Grey could see a small trickle of florescent green blood where his claws were digging into the palms of his massive hands. Clearly, what happened today had stirred up his ire enough for him to momentarily lose his composure; an incredibly rare occurrence for him, as she now knew.

"Yes, Arbitrator…" she whispered, looking at him in awe and actually feeling the waves of fury and determination coming off of him…

Though her words were quiet, her own determination had flared up in her, going from an already-blazing fire to an inferno.


	22. Chapter 22

**I forgot to do this in the last chapter, but…**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other trademarked or copyright material. All that I own are my original story ideas and characters.**

**Now that that's out of the way…**

**Chapter 22**

Despite the flames of determination that had arisen in her after hearing Kantra's speech, Grey made it her mission for the next few days after their return from the Great Temple, to stay inside Ijane's house as much as possible, save when she was training in the early mornings or doing chores that took her out into the backyard or just beyond the tree line.

By this point, the entire village knew what had heard all about the fiasco at the first plaiting ritual, and there was a slight differing of opinion on whether Grey should have been there, or whether she should have been called out so publically.

The vast majority of the adult females seemed to agree that if the priestesses hadn't wanted her there, they could at least have told Ijane and the others in private, or sent a communique to them once they were home. The ones whose sons had participated in the ritual-all of whom liked Grey a good deal-were appalled by the decision not to allow her to return for the rest of the months-long ritual and, had there been another temple anywhere near them who would have allowed the human to come and watch, they were heard to mutter to one another that they would have preferred to take their offspring there, instead.

"She's been training with them and watching them train for months now; she's earned a right to come and watch, at least!" one irate female was heard to grumble to her friend in the little marketplace.

"And she's always conducted herself very well; especially from what my oldest son has told me of ooman behavior." the friend agreed.

Still, even news that the majority of the village was on her side wasn't enough to make Grey face Nanku and the rest of the Unblooded males, whom Ijane had told her were beginning to irritate her with their daily inquiries about their ooman friend's whereabouts.

"I just _can't_, Ijane… I… I can't face them after what happened… It's supposed to be such an important ritual, after all, and I basically embarrassed them in front of the entire planet!" Grey said, after her caretaker had chased off a couple of Unblooded with a roar, about four days after the incident.

"_KI'CTE!_" Kantra roared, from where he'd been sitting in the corner sharpening one of his shuriken and listening to the two females' conversation.

Getting to his feet and clearing the distance between them in about four strides, he grabbed Grey by the back of her shirt and lifted her up to look him in the face.

"_S'yuit-de_! How dare you think to one day count yourself among the finest Hunters of the Yautja people, when you cannot even have a conversation with some Unblooded pups with barely enough _dekna_ to stuff inside a loincloth! How would you fare against the Hard Meat, when you cannot even face an awkward encounter? I will not allow my name and reputation to be associated in any way with this kind of cowardice!" he snarled, his face so close that Grey could feel his hot breath on her own.

With this, he let her drop to the ground, where she landed in a crouch, and when she managed to stand up, she found herself being marched unceremoniously from the house by Kantra, who had grabbed her by the scruff of her neck once she'd managed to right herself.

Looking back over her shoulder, she could see that Ijane was as shocked by this display as she was, but was rapidly regaining her own composure and beginning to follow the pair of them, the expression on her face telling Grey that the Yautja was trying to figure out exactly when shit had went left here.

Once they were out a little past the front yard, Kantra made Grey stop, and immediately let out a roar that sent a multitude of the creatures that passed for birds there bursting from the nearby trees and taking flight, and had a number of the younger pups scurrying off to find their mothers, such was their fright at the sudden, terrible noise.

After all this time among the Yautja, Grey recognized the roar as one that was meant to bring others to the one making the sound; almost a challenge, but not quite. It seemed to work; because less than a minute later, every Unblooded male in the village, Nanku included, dropped whatever they were doing and ran to stand before the mighty Arbitrator who'd commanded their presence.

Kantra glared at all of them, and without needing any further hints, they got into a line so perfectly straight that it could have been drawn with a ruler, and none of them so much as clicked a tusk as they waited for the older male to speak.

"You have been attempting for several days to come and speak with Grey. She has been avoiding you. This…tension…has become irksome to me. If you all have enough time to bother Lady Ijane to see _if your little friend cannot come out and play with you…_" he said the last words in a mocking, almost baby-talking tone, pacing from one end of the line to the other…

"THEN YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY NOT CONCENTRATING ON YOUR TRAINING!" he roared, right into the face of the nearest male, and whether by coincidence or Kantra's own design, that male happened to be Nanku.

"That having been said, if you have something to say to or ask Grey, you will do it now, and get all of this over with before I decide to add a few of your skulls to my walls!" he said, continuing his pacing.

One of the Unblooded stepped forward, and Grey saw that it was V'kha, whose injuries from his ill-fated diving attempt were all healed, save for his broken arm, which was still in a sling.

"Speak, pup; I have much to do today, and listening to this sort of blather was not included in my plans!" Kantra barked, crossing his arms.

"We only wanted…to tell Grey that we…" he began, but seemed embarrassed at having to do this in front of everyone, which now included a number of the village pups and females…including a few of their mothers and siblings.

"SPEAK!" Kantra roared.

"We only wanted to tell Grey that we are on her side! We don't blame her for what happened!" V'kha finished, almost in one long breath, clearly not wanting to end up as another trophy on Kantra's wall.

A few of the other males clicked and growled their agreement, but as soon as Kantra flicked his eyes in their direction, they quieted down immediately.

"There! It is over! _You_ can go back to your regular duties and training…" the Arbitrator said to Grey,

"…and the lot of _you _can stop making a nuisance of yourselves to my mother! Now, GO!"

At this last order, all of the males hurried away, soon followed by the females, and then the pups, who looked crestfallen now that the excitement was over.

"This foolishness is now over with. I expect that things will go back to the way they were before. I will still check on your progress, and occasionally I will come to see for myself how your training and education are going. I can see how what happened at the temple might have been…upsetting…but it is done with, and you will put it behind you. I expect no more of this indecisiveness, Grey; it is nothing but weakness, and I will not tolerate it." he said, in a tone that told Grey that the matter was settled.

"And Mother, I expect that you will no longer allow her to get away with this kind of behavior. You should have put an end to this before it even began." he said sternly, turning to go back into the house, followed by Ijane, who still looked like she didn't quite know what the hell was going on.

Grey began to follow the Yautja inside, but a soft clicking got her attention, and she looked around to see Nanku and V'kha peering around the side of one of the village's storage buildings, motioning for her to come over.

As she began to walk toward them, Grey hoped that they didn't think that she'd asked Kantra to intervene on her behalf, so that they wouldn't say anything too mean to her or anything; being a kiss-ass was severely frowned upon in this culture, after all…

"What the _pauk_ was that?" Nanku asked, when she joined them, finding that the lot of them had apparently regrouped and were all standing there, waiting to confront her.

"I _swear_, I didn't ask him to do that-" she began, but V'kha cut her off mid-sentence.

"Then why did that just happen?" he asked, glaring at her.

"Well… I think my avoiding you the past few days…it kind of pissed him off. It's pretty easy to do, actually…" the human said, kicking at the dirt.

"Why _were_ you avoiding us?" another of the males asked, crossing his arms as he looked at her.

"I couldn't face you guys after what happened…"

"But you must have heard that we sided with you on the matter?" Nanku said.

"We didn't know how you were doing, after all that… We wanted to check on you, you little fool!" V'kha said, and the rest of them muttered in agreement.

Grey was honestly touched by this information, and looked with fondness at her companions.

"When they challenged your right to be there, they challenged our honor, as well. They insulted one with whom we trained, and whom we call a friend!" a brown male with dark grey mottling and shoulder-length tendrils said, with a thump on his chest to emphasize his point.

"I still think the Arbitrator should have said something; he could have put a stop to all of that, had he wished to do so." one tall, reddish male said.

"He couldn't have done anything." Grey said, shaking her head.

"But he was even heard to say that you broke no laws by entering the temple!" V'kha pointed out, to mutters and clicks of agreement.

"Yeah, but _they_ didn't break any by telling me to leave, either. They're completely within their rights to keep someone from entering the temple, if they feel they've got a good reason. Kantra told me that himself." Grey replied.

"But… But…!" Nanku said, trying to find some loophole…any argument, really.

"Look, they didn't cause me any harm, or even threaten me in any way. Now, if they'd tried to…I don't know…ritually sacrifice me or something, Kantra could have stepped in. As it stands, though, they didn't even _really_ insult Kantra; so he can't get their asses for that, either. The only thing I can do is just move on…and the rest of you, too." the human said.

"And you're just going to let them treat you that way, and do nothing?" V'kha asked, incredulously.

Grey sighed, and explained.

"Ijane talked to me about it a couple of days ago. She said that it's not going to be the last time something like that happens, so I need to learn to deal with it the right way…" she said quietly.

"Well, Lady Ijane did tell me once that there are some fights one cannot win, and it would serve me well to know which ones they are before issuing a challenge… Perhaps it is best to, as you would say, let this one go…" Nanku admitted, though he didn't look happy about it.

"Yeah…" Grey said, looking towards Ijane's house for a moment, then turning back to them, a huge, wicked grin on her face.

"At least until I become a badass Huntress, and have so much honor and respect to my name that they'll all be _begging_ me to grace their little temple with my presence every fucking year!" she almost shouted, to roars of approval and the raised fists of the Unblooded males.

**k'cte – enough**

**s'yuit-de – pathetic/coward**

**dekna – the literal translation on the AVP wiki is "eye(s) or eyeball(s); but for the purposes of this story, I'm going to use at as a slang for testicles.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey, everybody!**

**I'm so happy that I've already gotten some reviews on my last couple of chapters, and I'm hoping that more people will come back once they realize I'm updating again!**

**Thanks so much for the reviews!**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other copyrighted or trademarked materials. All I own are my original characters and story ideas.**

**Chapter 23**

Even in the years to come, it would always amaze Grey when she looked back on how quickly the next year seemed to pass.

Over the next months, Nanku and the others continued on with their plaiting ceremony at the Great Temple, after Grey had sworn an oath of honor that she wouldn't be angry at them for doing so.

"You've got to do this to become Hunters, right? There's no other temple that's close enough for you to get to without a lot of hassle; and I don't think it'll look good for you or the Clan to pick up a reputation of throwing a fit when you don't get your way." Grey said, and though some of them chuffed with irritation at her phrasing, they at last decided among themselves that she was right.

She was surprised to learn that several of the mothers of the Unblooded males had taken it upon themselves to ask the priestesses about whether Grey might attend the remaining rituals…to no avail. It seemed that they felt a good deal of gratitude to her, for she had trained with their sons, sometimes had even convinced Ijane to give them lessons. These things would, hopefully, allow their progeny not only to survive once they left the safety of their home village, but to bring honor and glory to their Clan and lineage.

Back on Earth, something like this would probably have garnered media attention, sparked protests, and caused the forming of a bunch of special interest groups; but although word certainly got around, seeing as how Grey was the only human currently residing with the Yautja, it became clear to everyone in the village that they were pretty much alone in their support of their human inhabitant.

It was at that time that Grey began to learn just how opposed many Yautja were to her living among them.

They had, apparently, been fine when she was just living quietly in an out-of-the-way little village, not causing trouble or drawing undue attention to herself; but once it got around that the ooman's whining had the whole Lakeshore Clan petitioning the priestess of the Great Temple on her behalf, shit got real ugly, real fast.

Although no one had actually come to the village seeking Grey out, one of the females, having gone to the city on some errand or another, had come back with reports that several people had asked her about their unusual "guest" when they found out where she was from. These people-almost all of them brash young males-had declared that they didn't know what the Arbitrator had been thinking, bringing a _pyode amedha_ back to live among them as though she were a proper Yautja; and were adamant that, if he insisted on keeping his little ooman pet, he should at least keep her from yapping so much, and be sure to remind her of her place.

"But what do you expect? I heard she's being kept by Lady Ijane; and you know _she'll_ accept just about anything as a pupil." one of these Hunters was overheard to remark, after a few bowls of c'ntlip; though the female who'd overheard him, and those to whom she later repeated the comment, felt that he never would have said such a thing in front of either Ijane or Kantra.

Unsurprisingly, when Ijane heard about this, her mandibles spread and her back arched a bit in anger, and only her mother could calm her down. Grey had wondered what the male had meant by what he'd said; but decided to let the matter drop, as it was none of her business, and Ijane was already upset enough, anyway.

Word of this sort of thing had apparently gotten to Kantra, as well; because numerous stories began to crop up of foolhardy Hunters daring to say something stupid within his hearing (and Yautja had _incredible_ hearing) and ending up in the infirmary for their trouble.

"He can't just go around kicking everyone's ass who insults him…" Grey muttered, after hearing about another one of these incidents over a game of So'in.

"He can… In fact, he _has_ to. A Yautja, especially a high-ranking one such as an Arbitrator, cannot allow his honor and decisions to be questioned at every turn. The other males are just lucky that they ended up in the infirmary, and not in the afterlife." Di'Sedi said casually, as she collected two more of Grey's pieces.

The only thing Grey was really upset about, though, was not being able to see Nanku and the others finish their rituals. She had said she wasn't mad about them going back to the Great Temple…and she honestly wasn't; but she was disappointed that she couldn't be there to support them. As the months wore on, it really began to dawn on her that her time with them was growing ever shorter, and that it was entirely possible that some, or even all, of them might not make it back here to visit in the future.

Still, she tried to push these thoughts away from her, and concentrated on supporting her friends as best she could.

Since Grey wasn't allowed to go with the rest of them, Ijane had her stay with Nuini on the days they attended the rituals, and Grey consoled herself by playing with little Dami, who was now able to roll over, and was trying to learn to crawl.

"He's kind of young to be crawling, isn't he?" the human said, as the little guy focused on putting his weight on his little arms and legs, a look of intense concentration on his face. Then again, she didn't know much at all about Yautja child development…or human child development, for that matter.

"Yautja pups must learn these things sooner. This planet was-and still is-quite dangerous; little ones had to begin learning survival as soon as possible. We evolved and live here among extreme climates, harsh terrain, and a myriad of creatures who would make a meal of us, given half a chance. Ours is not a world for the weak." Nuini said, surveying her youngest child.

Vaguely, Grey wondered what category she would end up falling into.

**000000000**

Finally, the big day had arrived.

The Unblooded, accompanied by their mothers and siblings, as usual, left the village early in the morning, with Grey coming to the gates to see them off, as she'd done every time since she'd been forbidden from attending the ceremonies one year previously.

All that day, she and the other females prepared a feast for the village, to celebrate the imminent departure of this newest generation of young Hunters, who would be leaving first thing the next morning, to begin their training with a master warrior in preparation for their first chiva.

"So, do you train for the chiva onboard your Clan ships, or here on the Homeworld?" she'd asked Kantra the night before.

"It depends on the Clan one wishes to join. Thwei-Luar-ke offers training in the basic arts of armed and unarmed combat, tracking, and the like; but other Clans require that the Unblooded go through this training on the Homeworld before they can apply." the Arbitrator, who had somehow managed to come to every one of Nanku's braiding rituals, explained. It had been a great source of pride for the younger male to have such a distinguished personage attending the rituals; especially since that person happened to be his first cousin. The other Unblooded of the Lakeshore Clan, too, swelled with pride when Kantra, an Arbitrator who'd been born and raised in their own Clan, showed up; for it made the little Clan look very good to have produced such a fine warrior.

"Do Clans accept everyone who applies?" she asked.

"Certainly not! There is a selection process for each Clan, since they all have different criteria and standards for who they wish to allow in. Some hold a kind of contest-fighting, tracking some wily prey, surviving a certain amount of time in a difficult terrain-to weed out those who aren't strong enough or haven't the intelligence or ingenuity that the particular Clan is looking for in its members. Some Clans only allow the most elite warriors into their ranks; they don't even allow anything less than Honored Hunters to apply, let alone join." Ijane said, from where she sat on Grey's other side.

"Like the Dark Blade Clan." V'kha said, to mutters of agreement from the other Unblooded.

"_It's kind of like applying for college…with the possibility of death…"_ Grey thought, with slight amusement.

"If the Clans took in everyone who simply _wanted_ to join, it would create a disproportionate balance of power. No one Clan can be allowed to have too much influence; and the bigger the Clan, the bigger the influence. You have heard of the Adjudicators, I assume?" Kantra asked the human, who nodded.

"The guys who run the Yautja society, right?"

"Yes…and no. They do not usually delve into the day-to-day affairs of individual Clans; but they do make our laws, decide what is and is not honorable or acceptable regarding the Hunt, and see to it that certain ancient rites and practices are upheld and strictly adhered to." Kantra said.

"How are they chosen? Are they voted in?"

"Well, for a new Council to be chosen, the previous one decides what Clans will battle to determine the new members." the Arbitrator said.

"_Clans_ battle?" Grey asked, unsure if she'd heard him correctly.

"They do. A certain number of Clans are selected, and a task is chosen for them to compete against each other. Usually, it's a very hard trial; only rarely do the Clans actually fight each other. Once the winners are decided, the reigning Council retires, and the new one steps in, though they can and often do seek advice from their predecessors. The whole thing is set up very carefully, so that the Adjudicators can't show too much favoritism to their own Clans…" Ijane said.

"…Because the balance of power would shift, and that wouldn't be good for the Yautja as a whole." Grey finished, and the former Huntress nodded.

"Elder Yeyinde could have become an Adjudicator, if he had chosen to do so, as well as his elder brother, Lord Nande; though they declined, and became a Clan Leader and Philosopher, respectively." Kantra said, seeming to swell with pride.

"No Clan Leader or Elder can be appointed without the express permission of a majority of the Council. They also decide whether new species, planets or regions of space are lawful for Hunting, and make the plans when more than one Clan get together for a joint Hunt." Nanku said.

"Whole Clans might Hunt together?"

"Usually they only cooperate in such a manner to achieve a very specific goal…the capture of a Hard Meat Queen, or the elimination of particularly large nests of the creatures." Kantra explained.

Grey knew that some Clans, usually the ones with ships large enough to hold such, would keep captive Hard Meat Queens onboard, to provide eggs for the chivas, or sometimes for release to start a hive on a new planet. How the warriors onboard managed to live with such a creature onboard their ship was beyond her understanding, considering she'd heard that the majority of the Hunters selected to capture the beasts were either killed while entering or exiting the hive…let alone the casualties associated with taking the Queen alive while simultaneously fighting off her snarling, hissing, drooling, enraged brood…

With all these new facts swimming through her mind, she'd gone to bed that night fervently hoping that Nanku and the others would stay alive long enough to make it through their chiva; because from what she'd heard, plenty of them didn't even live long enough to become Blooded…

**000000000**

For now, though, she was helping the others prepare a massive amount of food and cleaning the huge main hall of the Matriarch's dwelling to accommodate the entire Clan, who would all gather there for the traditional feast to celebrate the completion of the plaiting ceremony, as soon as everyone else returned home.

"I can't believe they're going to be leaving tomorrow morning…" she said to Nuini, as she brought another large basket of _pori_ to the large kitchen of Di'Sedi's house. The collecting of the clam-like mollusks had been left almost solely up to her, because her small ooman fingers were more adept at grabbing the little creatures from their holes along the sandy bottom of the lake's shallow waters close to the bank.

"I was here when Nanku was just a naked little pup, running around with the others and getting into trouble at every turn… Perhaps, in a few seasons, Nanku's own progeny will be doing the same." Nuini said, taking the large basket of shellfish from the human, who hung up the wide, shallow basket the Yautja female had made for her to serve as a kind of hat, at Ijane's insistence, when she found out that Grey would be out in the sun, up to her knees in water while she gathered the _pori_.

Nuini's pups were all being looked after by her two eldest daughters, who'd been given only two choices for the day: look after their younger siblings, or help their mother in the kitchen. Reluctantly, and with a great deal of grumbling, they'd chosen the former option, and all save for Dami, who was still nursing, were currently under the two females' supervision. The youngest of Nuini's brood was currently snoozing in a large basket in a quiet, out of the way corner of the kitchen, having recently been fed and changed by his mother. Another of Grey's duties, should it come to that, would be to look after the little one, and play with him, should he wake up and refuse to go back to sleep. This was fine with Grey, to whom the suckling had taken a great interest and liking, and for whom he would settle down far easier than he would for anyone else, save his mother.

"Yeah, I can just imagine them running around here, with Ijane and Mjadi trying to get them to sit down and behave themselves for five minutes…" Grey mused, trying to imagine what Nanku's pups would even look like.

"Why would you imagine them being here?" Nuini asked curiously, as she ran some warm water into a large basin and dumped the shellfish into it to clean them.

"Well, this is his Clan, isn't it?"

"It is; but Yautja never mate with anyone from their maternal or paternal Clans, male or female."

"Why not? I didn't think everyone here is related to one another, so I just assumed…" Grey said, confused.

"No, no, no… It isn't necessarily considered incestuous, exactly; but it's a bit of a taboo, nonetheless."

"So, Nanku's father didn't come from here?"

"No. He came from…I think, yes, he came from the Silent Spear Clan; though I know almost nothing else about him."

"And Kantra's father? What Clan was he from?" Grey asked, beginning to chop up some herbs to be put in the soup later. It had only been her intention to continue the conversation, but when she looked over at Nuini, the odd look she received back made her stop what she was doing, wondering if she'd said or done something wrong.

"Nuini…?" she said, feeling like, once again, she'd inadvertently asked something that was none of her business.

The older female looked at her for another few seconds, before replying, seeming to choose her words very carefully.

"Kantra's father… What do you know of him, Grey?"

"I think Ijane told me that he died; but she never said anything else, and she was pretty agitated. Kantra never even mentioned him, so I just dropped the whole subject."

"I believe that would be the best course of action, Grey; at least until either Ijane or Kantra decide to speak with you further. I would appreciate it, and consider it a kindness to Ijane and Kantra, if you didn't go asking around about it, either." she said, looking seriously at the younger female. Usually Nuini was pretty cheerful, even sweet (by Yautja standards); but seeing that she was so serious, Grey nodded.

"I won't go poking around." she said.

"You will swear? An oath of honor?" she asked, and Grey, knowing by now how seriously such an oath was taken, nodded again.

"On my honor, I'll wait for Ijane or Kantra to tell me whatever they want to tell me about Kantra's father." she said.

Nuini seemed then to relax a great deal, and was almost immediately back to her usual self, and chatted away as they continued to prepare the feast.

**000000000**

The remaining females finished their cooking, cleaning, and setting up of the three enormous tables, with enough time to hurry back to their homes and get themselves and their children ready for the evening's celebration.

Grey, who'd been out in the sun most of the day, had taken extra care to scrub herself clean of all the sweat, and put some healing cream on a few places that she could feel were going to be sunburned by the next morning.

Changing into a long, beige dress made of a fabric that felt like linen, she ran her fingers through her hair, which she'd let grow during the past year, and tied a long green sash around her waist. Stepping into her newer pair of sandals, she went out and joined the other females on their way to the village gates to welcome the males home.

They didn't have to wait long.

Almost as soon as they had all congregated there, the small shuttle descended from the sky and landed, extending its ramp for the passengers to descend.

As soon as the first of the Unblooded had set foot upon the ground outside the ship, a huge roar erupted from the gathered females and pups, nearly deafening the human in their midst.

The roars, cheers and clicking continued as all the males made their way through the village, wearing their plain brown ritual robes, their hair now fully plaited in the style of braiding only worn by Hunters, and sticking out their chests in pride.

After the males, the females and younger siblings of the males walked, looking proudly ahead at their sons and brothers, with Di'Sedi leading the procession.

Walking in single file, the males kept a constant pace as they walked through the streets of the village of their birth, heading to the Matriarch's house for the feast, with the rest of the village following behind them.

Once they'd made their way into the huge dining hall, Di'Sedi appeared on a raised platform at the head of the room, which had been erected and upon it had a long table placed for the Matriarch and the mothers of the soon-to-depart future Hunters. How she'd managed to get ahead of the entire village and get there first, Grey didn't know; but she was impressed.

Everyone went and stood at their places at the tables, Grey finding her way to stand between Ijane and Nuini, and Di'Sedi began to speak. Immediately, the room became completely silent; not one of them even clicked their tusks together, and even Dami, who was being held by his mother, as per usual, seemed to know that this was a very important occasion, and temporarily silenced his babbling and baby talk.

"We are here this day," she began, looking around the room and all who were gathered there, "to celebrate, once again, the departure of our young males, who will, at tomorrow's first light, leave their mothers and this Clan to begin their lives as adults. They will become Hunters, warriors, bringers and defenders of honor…and it is from their loins that the next generation will spring, if the gods will it. These things, they will do, until Cetanu claims them, as he has claimed those great Hunters who have come before, and will claim all those who come after. It is at this time that I ask Arbitrator Kantra, who is among us tonight, to speak to these Unblooded, and impart a bit of his wisdom, if he feels them deserving of it."

Whether or not Kantra had been told about this ahead of time, Grey didn't know; but as he walked up to the platform, he showed the same composure and dignity that he always did. The room grew, if possible, even more silent under the honey-brown gaze of the Arbitrator, and all of the Unblooded looked at him in rapt anticipation.

"I have watched, these past few months," he began, in an almost grave tone, as he looked out at the room, "as these young males underwent the plaiting ritual; the ancient rite that begins their journey from raw, undisciplined and ignorant pups into dignified, honorable and proper Hunters. They have conducted themselves well, and shown the self-command and gravity that will be expected of them throughout their lives. I pray to the gods that their Paths lead only to honor, and only to glory…for it would bring me both shame and sadness to find that they have strayed… I would, I think, consider it a personal insult, should _any_ of them become Bad Bloods" he looked directly at Nanku when he said this, "and I would never relent until I had tracked them down and regained the pride and good name of this Clan. Tonight, though, we feast and celebrate; for this is indeed a happy occasion, and I ask that the gods bless these males, and look upon them, this Clan, and the Yautja people, with favor. I ask that their Hunts be successful, that their trophies be many, their wounds few, and their offspring numerous."

He gave a small bow to the room, who began to applaud as he made his way back to his seat on the other side of his mother. The applause was punctuated by the occasional roar, but it quieted down a touch when Di'Sedi sat down at the table on the platform, which was the cue for everyone else to do the same, and the feast was underway.

"Nice speech, Kantra; leave it to you to wish them luck and threaten to kill them in the same breath." Grey teased, ladling some stew into her bowl. Nuini's tusks clicked with laughter at this.

"I am an Arbitrator. My duty is to uphold the laws of the Yautja people; I only sought to remind them of this, and their duty to follow those laws." Kantra said simply, pouring himself a bowl of c'ntlip from a jug offered by his mother. Ijane herself wasn't drinking any, due both to the face that she wasn't usually fond of the drink, and she knew that the strong smell made Grey quite dizzy, if she were exposed to it long enough.

"If you say so." Grey said, grinning.

"I just did." Kantra said, cocking his head slightly to the side. Some of Grey's ooman words, phrases and actions still puzzled him, and she wasn't really able to convey their meanings to him in a way that made them seem anything more than completely and utterly asinine.

"How did the ritual go?" Nuini asked Ijane, not wanting the conversation to become awkward.

"For the males of our Clan, it went perfectly; but…" she began, her tusks clicking in thought.

"What happened?" Nuini asked, excited by the promise of some interesting gossip.

"One of the males from the Swaying Grass Clan… When the priestess went to seal the end of his final plait, I suppose she held the cauterizer to it for too long, or he thought she did, anyway, and he screamed like a dying Hard Meat." Kantra said, after taking a drink of the c'ntlip.

Grey knew that Yautja hair wasn't "hair" in the truest sense; it was actually some kind of sensory appendage, something like a cat's whiskers, and could pick up slight movements and temperature changes in the air, among other things. Unlike a cat's whiskers, however, this "hair" grew from the tips, not the root, and each individual strand was filled with near-microscopic blood vessels and nerve endings. So, unlike human hair, Yautja tendrils, which to Grey resembled dreadlocks, were very sensitive to touch, and cutting them caused their owner varying levels of pain, and they bled quite a bit if severed, from what she'd been told. It was for this reason that she had to be very careful and gentle when she helped Ijane or one of the other females add adornments to or remove them from their tendrils.

The other Yautja at the table shuddered at this thought, and Grey couldn't help but be grateful that her human hair had been deemed unfit for the ritual, since human hair was essentially made up of dead cells, grew from the roots, and regularly was shed, among other factors, it was decided that it would be a waste of time to have Grey go through the ritual, and that a special exception could be made for her, under the circumstances.

For once, she was glad to be the odd one out.

She couldn't help but feel bad for that particular male, though; for he would have to endure the pain of having all of his plaits undone, and begin all over again, which would put him a year behind the others of his Clan.

"It's unfortunate…" Ijane said, shaking her head sadly.

Grey knew that Ijane had likewise gone through the process; though she'd been told that back then, the female's hair had been just below shoulder length, so it was far easier than it would be now. Many males, though, tended to have longer plaits, as these were viewed as attractive by many females; and males were willing to exploit every advantage they could get when it came to mating.

Well, some things were universal…

The rest of the evening passed fairly quickly, and soon it was time for the feast to end. The Clan all filed out of the hall and back to their respective homes, leaving the cleanup for a team of servants who'd been hired especially for the celebration.

Kantra had elected, despite some hopeful prodding from his mother, to spend the night in his own ship, which allowed Grey to keep her own bed.

"I'll wake you up in time for their departure tomorrow, Luar-ke." Ijane had said, before the human could even ask the question. She never would have forgiven herself if she didn't see Nanku and the others off this one, last time.

**000000000**

Across the village, Mjadi listened from the living room as her son got ready and went to bed.

For the past few days, she'd been working on sewing a new dress for herself, and she had decided to stay up a little longer tonight and get more work done on it. The dress was based on one Ijane's Grey had showed her in an image from her home planet, and Mjadi had taken a liking to it.

"_She's really not bad, that little ooman…"_ she thought to herself, as she worked on one of the seams.

More than wanting some extra time for sewing, Mjadi wanted to stay up to prolong her little remaining time with her son. Even if he was only sleeping in his room on the house's second story, she was happy to just bask in the pleasant feeling of having her only child under the same roof for a little while longer.

"_He really does look like his father."_ she thought.

Nanku's father had come from the Silent Spear Clan, looking for a mate (or hopefully more than one) to bear his offspring. They had known each other all of two days, and Mjadi had judged his reputation to be honorable, and his trophies and achievements sufficient enough to father her child. The two of them had remained in her home, mating several times over the next couple of days, until they'd decided they'd had enough of each other, and he departed, leaving Mjadi pregnant with her son.

Her mate had died some years ago, having been challenged to a death match by another of his Clan brothers. He'd ultimately won the match; but died a few days after his opponent from the wounds he'd sustained during the fight.

Mjadi hadn't been sad, exactly, when she'd heard the news of his demise. He'd been decent enough company, pleasured her acceptably well in bed, and given her a strong, healthy pup; and that was about all she could ask of any male.

Nanku hadn't really felt much of a loss, either; Yautja males, being polygamous by both culture and nature, generally didn't have a lot to do with their offspring. Females raised the pups, although some males did make it a point to keep in touch with their mates and offspring, should the mothers be willing. Nanku's father hadn't been one of these, however, and so the loss of his sire hadn't affected him much.

But how would losing Nanku affect her?

For the past year, Mjadi had been both dreading and anxiously awaiting what would happen tomorrow. Her pride was tinged with sadness, and a tiny part of her, just a _tiny_ part, wanted to ask her son to remain with her…if only for a little while longer…though she knew such an act would embarrass him terribly. This was the way it had always been…the way it had to be…for the Yautja.

**000000000**

Grey had almost drifted off to sleep, when a very quiet knock at her window made her open her eyes. Going over to investigate, she saw Nanku standing there, illuminated by the moonlight, and opened the window.

"What's up?" she asked. They'd had several late-night conversations since they'd gotten to know each other, so this wasn't really an unusual occurrence.

"Come out here, I need to talk to you about something." he whispered.

Rolling her eyes and wondering what the hell he could possibly want this late at night, she carefully made her way out the window, where she was gently lifted up and set on the ground by her much stronger friend.

"Follow me." he said, and together they walked a little ways, until they were beside one of the village storage buildings, where she'd been confronted by the whole group of Unblooded almost a year ago today. Just like that day, all eight of them were there waiting for her.

"What's up?" she asked again, looking around at them.

If she hadn't known them as well as she did, and trusted them the way that she did, she might have thought that this, meeting them like this so late at night, was a recipe for disaster. After all, they were all basically teenage boys who were far stronger and faster than any human, and from what she'd heard from the other females in the village, a cloud of dai-shui hung about them wherever they went…which basically meant that they were horny all the time.

"I, that is, we…wanted to see you…and talk to you one last time before we leave tomorrow. We're really not supposed to talk once the departure rite starts; so we wanted to say goodbye now…properly." V'kha explained.

"You wanted to say goodbye properly, eh? I wanted to say goodbye to you guys, too; but didn't know how…"

She paced for a moment, pretending to be deep in thought, then turned back to them with a look of exaggerated revelation on her face.

"Hey, why don't I say goodbye by having sex with each of you? It could be like, something that bonds all of us together forever!"

She'd never made a joke like this to them before; and she'd remember it for the rest of her life.

One of them, who'd been leaning against the side of the building, tripped over himself when he jumped in shock and fell over, while the others all had looks of absolute shock and, perhaps, a touch of disgust. Nanku's mandibles fell open, and none of them knew quite how to respond.

Grey almost fell on her ass as she tried to keep from laughing too loudly at this reaction, and thought of the "great future Hunters", with all their dignity and pride…reduced to these confused creatures that stood, open-mouthed and struck dumb with their confusion before her.

"I was just joking, guys!" she said, after a couple of minutes of watching them moving their mouths and tusks, and she could almost see their brains working as they attempted to come up with a response.

That seemed to lift a great deal of their tension, and slowly they relaxed and Grey got serious again.

"I really am going to miss you…all of you…" she said earnestly, looking around at the faces of those she'd come to call friends over the past couple of years.

"And we will miss you, ooman Grey. You've trained with us, and become our friend and confidant… You've kept our secrets and given us advice, and you've taught us many things, as well. We will not forget your friendship." Nanku said quietly.

His words brought a tightness to Grey's throat, and her eyes stung with tears. Suddenly, she couldn't contain it anymore, and she jumped up and embraced him tightly and, once he'd gotten over his initial surprise, returned the gesture, rumbling softly.

Each of them followed after him, until all of the Yautja were rumbling, trying to keep both themselves and Grey calm after such an open display of emotion.

She said goodbye to each of them in turn, and quietly, they all went back to their homes, with Nanku escorting her and helping her gently back in the window.

"I've decided on something, Grey… I've been thinking about it for quite awhile…" he said, as she turned back to face him after climbing back inside the house.

"What's that?" Grey whispered back.

"I've decided that, once I'm Blooded… I won't hunt Pyode Amedha…" he said, and she could see the look of resolve in his eyes.

She didn't know what to say to this, and opted to give him one last hug, before they parted, and she watched him walk home in the moonlight, until he was out of sight between two houses…

**000000000**

Ijane kept her word and woke Grey up early the next morning, and the human quickly bathed and dressed in a knee-length purple tunic, putting her hair back with a short black scarf tied around like a headband.

"Sweet gods, what happened?!" Ijane asked, seeing the fresh sunburn on the back of Grey's neck and beginning to fuss over her.

"I was out collecting _pori_ most of yesterday. I put some cream on it." the human explained. The quick application of the healing ointment had made a BIG difference, and the sunburn wasn't nearly as painful as it would have been, had she not tended to it quickly.

"_I_ volunteered to go collect the _pori_; Nuini didn't ask me to get it." Grey said, seeing the look of indignation on Ijane's face, and she looked mollified, for the time being.

Together, the two females walked through the village, and it was near the gates that Grey noticed a large bonfire had been made.

"For the last part of the departure ritual." Ijane said quietly, as the Unblooded began to make their way down the center of the village.

Just like the day before, they had on their long brown robes; but today, they were also carrying small bundles containing a few clothes, and a couple of them had weapons, which had been gifts from older male family members in preparation for this day.

It seemed to Grey that Di'Sedi and Kantra's speeches the previous night had really struck a chord with the Unblooded; for as they walked, their manner conveyed a sense of gravity…hell, they were almost _grim_ as they made their way out to stand in a single file line before the bonfire.

Silently, they all seemed to be waiting for something, and Grey wondered what that could be, until the transport vessel came down from the sky and landed in the clearing, extended its ramp, and sat waiting for them.

Apparently, this was their cue, and one by one, each male stepped up to the fire, carefully set his bundle on the ground, took off his robe, revealing whatever clothes he wore beneath it, and tossed it into the fire, before picking up his bundle and walking through the gates and up into the vessel. All of this was done in complete and utter silence.

"This part represents their leaving their homes, and their acknowledgement that their lives as children are over, and their mothers can do nothing more to provide for them." Ijane whispered.

The rest of the Clan watched silently as the last of the males, who happened to be Nanku, completed his ritual and walked, head high and shoulders back, toward the gates. As he passed Grey, though, he paused for just a moment and gave her a small, quick smile and nod, before continuing on his way.

They all watched as he disappeared into the vessel, which ascended back into the sky and took off, probably to pick up the next bunch of Unblooded from a nearby village. Once this was done, they all went back to their homes, save for the families of those who had departed, who stayed there looking into the sky for a little longer, before they, too, went back home.

"Good luck, guys…" Grey said quietly, as she looked up into the sky, which was becoming lighter with the coming dawn…

It was a new day.


	24. Chapter 24

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**Chapter 24**

Three years later…

Grey ran through the streets of the village, hoping to get back home before the deadly creatures behind her could catch up. She'd been out picking some herbs, when the rustling of some nearby bushes had drawn her attention, and she slowly reached for the dagger she always kept in a sheath on her thigh.

Suddenly, the creatures exploded from the underbrush, and Grey, seeing that she was vastly outnumbered, quickly grabbed her basket and began running for the safety of Ijane's house, with her foes in hot pursuit.

They were too fast for her, though, and just as she neared the front gates, one of them took a flying leap and grabbed her around the waist, tackling her to the ground, while the others rapidly caught up with the first…

"HUNT THE OOMAN! HUNT THE OOMAN! HUNT THE OOMAN!" the little pups cried, as they all piled on their older human playmate, who burst into laughter. Their older siblings and their friends had taught them this game, and they, like those before them, took every opportunity to "Hunt" her when they thought she was preoccupied with something else. Ijane had taught her to always be aware of her surroundings, though, and they never managed to really surprise her. She did let them "capture" her, though, and gave them the illusion that their little ambushes worked.

They always loved it when she let out a last, overly-dramatic dying scream, collapsing to the ground as she did so, and playing dead, so they could dance and jump around her in triumph at taking down such worthy "prey". She did this now, and the little naked Yautja let out squeaky little victory roars to celebrate their "kill".

"Luar-ke? What's happening out…oh, I see…" Ijane said, having come to the door upon hearing her charge's dying screams. Smiling to herself, she folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe, watching the pups do their warrior's dance in celebration of their victory.

After a few minutes of this, Grey rose to her feet and dusted herself off, before turning to face her little attackers.

"You guys are getting better at that all the time. You're going to be great warriors one day." she said, crouching down and fondly rubbing the head of the nearest one, who purred in appreciation of the affection and praise.

"Which one of them brought you down this time?" Ijane called, her tusks clicking with amusement.

"Who else?" she replied, looking at the pup she'd been petting and smiling at him.

"Ah, Dami… Of course…" the former Huntress said, nodding.

The little brown Yautja pup had grown from a mewling suckling in a sling across his mother's back into a chubby hunter of small rodents and _zabin_ bugs…but he was not above letting Grey show him affection whenever she wished it.

"You guys better be getting back to your bearers; it's almost dinnertime, and I expect they'll be waiting on you." Grey said, standing back up and surveying the little warriors, who were already as tall as her waist.

The pups growled and clicked in disappointment at their dismissal, but as if on cue, several of their names could be heard being called across the village, and they scurried off to their own homes.

"You too, Dami." she said, reaching out to rub his head again, and he basked in the attention for a moment, before hurrying as fast as his chubby little legs would carry him across the wide street to his house, where Nuini stood outside waiting. Grey waved to her, which she returned, before picking up her youngest child and going back inside.

"I hope that being killed by a group of highly-skilled Yautja warriors doesn't mean you didn't get the herbs I sent you for?" Ijane said, from the doorway.

"No. Despite having my head and spine removed from my body, and hung upside down without my skin, I managed to bring you back your herbs, o great Huntress." Grey replied, stifling a laugh and picking up her basket, before going back inside with her caretaker.

It had been three years since she'd stood with the rest of the village and watched Nanku, V'kha and the others board the transport vessel and disappear into the sky, and since then, Grey had witnessed another group of the village's Unblooded males, who'd been too young to undergo the plaiting ritual before, do the same.

She'd been worried about them, having considered them all to be her friends and training partners; and the word that two of them had perished during their chiva had reduced her to tears as soon as she'd heard it. Luckily, neither of these unfortunate Young Bloods (Yautja who'd undergone basic training under a Blooded Hunter, but who hadn't yet been Blooded themselves) had been Nanku, so there was a tiny bit of solace for her.

Since then, she'd heard from Mjadi that Nanku and V'kha were doing well; though since most of them had gone to different Clans, she couldn't really say how the others were faring. She, like the whole village, hoped for their safety and success, and hoped that she'd meet up with them again, once she'd undergone her own chiva.

Her training with Ijane had continued, and intensified to the point that she was now fairly proficient with basic sword techniques, and she was now being regularly taken on Ijane's hunts for game in the dense forest surrounding the village. Much of the time, Ijane would hang back and let Grey use her tracking skills to lead her to the intended prey and, as of late, would let her take it down herself, if the Yautja didn't think it was beyond her level of skill.

She'd become very adept at this, and by now could slip through the trees and undergrowth almost as silently as her teacher, keeping upwind of her prey and waiting for the right moment to throw a shuriken or dagger, or spring a trap or an ambush. She could keep to the dark forest shadows, and use mud and moss to blend in and hide her scent, so that sometimes the beasts she tracked would wander right past her, without even knowing she was there, until she sprang out and quickly ended them.

Ijane was fiercely proud of her ooman student, and Grey had overheard her on more than one occasion praising her progress and skill to Kantra over the communicator, though Grey would never let her know she'd heard these things. This praise, though, only intensified Grey's determination to do even better, and make Ijane even more proud of her.

Though she didn't say so aloud, Grey wondered if these feelings were what having a mother felt like.

Ijane certainly behaved in almost every sense like a mother to Grey, teaching her and helping her, and giving her advice…whether she asked for it or not. She gently admonished her when she'd said or done something wrong or incorrectly, and always looked out for her best interests and safety…and Grey still remembered the times when the Yautja had comforted her when she was distressed…

It was these memories that Grey cherished above the others, and she'd long ago decided to enjoy whatever attention and affection Ijane was willing to bestow upon her…for there would be no coddling once she left the village for her training; and precious little comfort and support once she joined her Hunting Clan.

For now, though, Grey helped Ijane prepare dinner, which both females really enjoyed. Grey had become an excellent cook since arriving here, and all the females in the village praised her skills in the kitchen, as much as Ijane did her skills in the kehrite. It was another way to bond with her caregiver, and Grey took full advantage of every opportunity she was given to work alongside her in the kitchen.

Ijane, for her part, had come to care deeply for the little ooman, despite her strange quirks and habits, most of which she let slide, deciding that they were simply a part of her being of another species and culture. The child (though according to Luar-ke, she was now around twenty ooman years old, and thus no longer a child) had become almost as a daughter to the former Huntress, and Ijane enjoyed the time they spent together.

She was just thinking these thoughts when the communicator began to buzz, alerting them of an incoming transmission. Quickly washing and drying her hands, she went into the living room and found that it was, unsurprisingly, Kantra.

"Hello, Mother." he said, nodding, and upon seeing Grey entering the room, continued:

"Ah, it is good that I can speak to the both of you at once. I have received a message from Vi'ren. He says that the time has come to begin the infusions."

Upon hearing this, Grey's heart gave a hard thump in her chest, and a sense of anxiety settled over her.

"A-already?" she managed to squeak out. This had been in the back of her mind, always, since the idea had first been introduced, and she'd been nervously awaiting the day when her Yautja doctor would decide that the time had finally come.

"You are, as Mother has informed me, twenty seasons old…in ooman terms, at least. This is the age we agreed upon, and now you have reached that age. Vi'ren has, as you know, continued with your regular examinations, and has decided that this would be the optimal age to begin the process. You are young, healthy, strong, intelligent, and skilled enough, he believes, to handle the infusions with minimal side effects." Kantra said.

"So, when is Vi'ren arriving?" Ijane asked, a touch of apprehension in her voice.

"He is not. The Clan Healer does not have the proper equipment, nor the knowledge, to perform the procedure, nor to properly monitor you afterwards. No; you, Mother, must take Grey to the city of B'shet, and to Vi'ren's personal compound, where he will perform the proceedure and monitor Grey himself."

"What?!" both females said in unison, looking at each other, then at the Arbitrator on the screen.

"When? Where would we stay? How will we get around?" Grey asked, completely floored by this revelation.

"Luar-ke has not set foot beyond the village gates since that fiasco at the Great Temple four years ago; and you wish me to take her to a city full of strangers?" Ijane asked, her voice incredulous.

"I do, Mother, yes. It is the only way this can be accomplished successfully. In any case, Grey cannot remain sheltered in the village forever. It would be good for her to see for herself how we Yautja live outside the Clans." Kantra said.

"But many of them have likely never even seen a living ooman before!" Ijane protested.

"Except when they were Hunting them…" Grey muttered.

"Exactly!" Ijane agreed.

"Grey is, as you know, under my protection, Mother; and even if she were not, she is still a young female, and therefore no honorable Yautja would attempt to do harm."

"Wrong! I've been taught the same Honor Code as you have, Kantra, remember? I've had it repeated to me, backwards and forwards, inside and out, since I started training with Ijane, and I can probably tell you all the laws and loopholes as well as you could tell them to me!" Grey said.

"Our Honor Code has no loopholes, ooman!" Kantra said, sounding personally affronted by the very idea.

"Hell yeah, it does; it this case, at least. The Honor Code says that no _honorable_ Yautja can kill me; which leaves it wide open for any Bad Bloods who happen to be in the city to take my head as a souvenir of their trip. It also says that no honorable Yautja can Hunt and kill me, and make a trophy out of me; but it doesn't say they can't beat the living c'jit out of me and leave me almost dead or permanently incapacitated! They were making those same kinds of threats when I dared to go the Great temple for a few hours; what will they do if I go to one of their cities for a few days? Everyone in the city will line up to kick my ooman ass!" Grey said.

"She has a point, Kantra." Ijane said gravely.

"I will ensure that your…ooman ass…is safe, Grey; I swear an oath to you that you will not be harmed. As far as I am concerned, this is part of your vow to become a Huntress…a vow which you swore to me in front of Elder Yeyinde, if you will remember…"

"I remember…" Grey said.

"Then the matter is settled. You will be going to the city tomorrow." Kantra said, with a definite tone of finality.

"Tomorrow?! I have to ask again: where will we stay, Kantra? You've left me no time to make arrangements for either travel or accommodations!" Ijane said, completely taken aback by the suddenness of the news.

"I have made all the arrangements, Mother. A private automated transport vessel will arrive to collect you tomorrow morning, and it will take you to your temporary apartments. Vi'ren does not know how long you will need to remain in the city, so I paid for an extended stay at very fine and reputable establishment near his dwelling." Kantra explained.

Not seeing any other cause for argument, or perhaps deciding that it was pointless to argue with her son in the first place, Ijane sighed in defeat, and sat back on a cushion.

"I suppose we'll leave tomorrow morning, then?" Grey asked, looking from the Arbitrator on the screen to his mother and back again.


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer – I don't own Alien(s), Predator, AVP, or any other trademarked or copyrighted material. All I own are my original characters and story ideas.**

**Chapter 25**

"I still can't _believe_ he's insisting that we go to the city… What is he _thinking_?" Ijane grumbled, as she and Grey stood just outside the village gates, holding their traveling bags over their shoulders and waiting for their vessel to take them to one of the few large cities on the Homeworld.

They'd gotten up early and bathed, hurriedly eaten and grabbed their things, and walked out here to await their small ship, being joined by Di'Sedi, Mjadi and Nuini, with Dami hurrying along behind her, having insisted on seeing his ooman friend off.

"He's stubborn… He's always been stubborn, that one…" Mjadi agreed, adjusting her long shawl on her shoulders. The morning was a touch chilly, which was normal for this time of year, as the rains were soon to arrive. Of course, such a slight temperature drop was nothing to the hardy Yautja; but they preferred hotter temperatures, and the cold tended to make them a bit irritable and sluggish.

"Well, he's his mother's son." Di'Sedi said, an touch of playfulness in her voice, and Ijane clicked in response.

Grey had been listening to the three of them, when a slight tugging on her tunic got her attention, and she looked down at Dami, who looked back up at her with his big yellow eyes and lifted his arms.

"Up?" he questioned hopefully.

"I can't carry you anymore, remember? You're too big." she reminded him, crouching down and rubbing his head. He'd gotten too heavy for her to carry around, but he still asked her every now and then.

"Mama up." he said, meaning that his mother had no problem carrying him.

"Mama's eight feet tall, honey." Grey said and Dami, looking from Grey to his mother and sizing them up, sighed in defeat.

"You going?" he asked, pointing to her bag.

"Yeah, just for a little while."

"Coming back?" he questioned.

"Of course! I'll be back to play with you and the others as soon as I can, okay?"

His little brow wrinkled as he thought about this for a minute, before nodding his permission, his face adorably stern, and going back over to his mother, who gathered the pup into her arms and bundled him up in her shawl.

Meanwhile, the three other females were deep in conversation. Mainly, this consisted of Di'Sedi and Mjadi trying to allay Ijane's misgivings about the while situation.

"I highly doubt you'll be out and wandering around in the city proper, Ijane. Kantra _did_ say he made arrangements for you to stay in an apartment very close to this Vi'ren's abode, did he not?" Mjadi was saying reasonably.

"And Grey will have to mix with the rest of our people, eventually." Di'Sedi added.

"You're right… I know you're right… I just worry about…many things…" Ijane conceded, with a sigh.

"There now. Your ship's come; there's no getting out of this now." her mother said, and indeed, the small craft landed gently in the clearing, and the doors opened automatically to allow entrance.

"Come along, Luar-ke. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can be back home." Ijane said, still sounding uncertain and disapproving of the whole situation.

Grey followed her, turning to wave at the group left standing at the gates. She smiled when Dami peered out of one of the folds of his mother's shawl and waved one little hand exuberantly, before she boarded the ship and the doors closed behind her.

This craft wasn't like the larger transport ship they'd taken to the Great Temple. For one thing, it was much smaller and sleeker, with big, spacious seats and a lot of room to move around. Kantra had said that the little ship was fully automated; but Ijane had told her that these kinds of transports could be flown manually, if the occasion warranted it.

Setting her things down on the smooth metal floor, Grey tested out the large seat and found it surprisingly comfortable. Across from her, Ijane did the same.

"Wow, this thing's really going fast…" the human observed, seeing that the ground below was almost a blur of greens, greys and browns, with the occasional body of water whizzing by in shades of green and blue. She'd never been one to get carsick; but the sight of everything going by so fast was making her a little queasy, and she looked away and back to her caretaker.

"These luxury vessels can go far faster than this. At this speed, we should be in B'shet in a little over two hours." Ijane said.

"Does Kantra own this ship?"

"I doubt it. He could certainly afford it; but I don't think something like this would really get much use. He doesn't come to the Homeworld much; at least not since before he brought you here, and when he _does_ come here, he uses his own private ship." the older female explained.

"Can this thing go into space?"

"Certainly not. These little transports are only for overland travel. However, I must admit that for those kinds of journeys, nothing is more comfortable." Ijane said.

With this, she stretched and sat back in the seat, and Grey smiled and did the same.

The pair of them managed to doze lightly for the remainder of the ride, and were yawning a little when the control panel chimed, and a message that they were nearing their destination came up on the screen.

Grabbing their bags, Grey and Ijane headed over to stand in front of the doors, but on the way, Grey glanced out the window, and her mouth fell open at the sight that lay below her.

The ship, it seemed, had slowed down dramatically, and was now cruising at a comfortable speed above a sprawling Yautja city.

Buildings. There were so many buildings, most of them made of what looked like different kinds of stone, though some seemed to be either fully or partially made of metal. Many of the larger ones, Grey noted, were something like large ziggurats or Mayan pyramids, with a few more similar to the tall buildings she was used to seeing back on Earth.

"One of the largest cities on the Homeworld, B'shet." Ijane said, coming over to stand beside her.

The craft seemed to be descending, and Ijane guided Grey over to stand with her again, just in time for the doors to open, and Grey closed her eyes against the sudden, bright sunlight.

It appeared they'd landed on some kind of balcony; for when she looked around, she could see the city stretching below them. Now that they were closer, she could see that there were dozens of small craft zooming here and there through the air, maybe the Yautja version of taxis…

As she turned, she could see that the balcony was attached to a beautiful building of smooth, cream-colored stone, with other such large balconies sticking out here and there. Decorative plants had been arranged around the edges of their balcony, and the ones above, sporting large, brightly-colored flowers, enormous leaves and long hanging vines that fell down like waterfalls from the balcony above to the ones below, creating, in some places, an almost screened-off portion of space. This seemed to be intentional; for a table and chairs were set up in the shade provided by the thick growth of vines, in case the occupants wanted to sit in the shade. To one side, Grey recognized a fire pit, and supposed it was there in case people wanted to cook their own food. The sound of running water got her attention, and she turned around to see a small waterfall trickling from a carefully-placed pile of decorative rocks, tumbling down into…

"_Holy shit, we have a pool!"_ Grey thought, looking at the large depression in the floor, which was filled with sparkling greenish-blue water, and it even had rocks, sand and small water plants at the bottom…and…were those fish? Well, this planet's version of fish, anyway; they looked a little more like a cross between fish and salamanders to the human…

"Kantra?" Ijane's voice inquired, and Grey quickly turned from observing her new surroundings to find that the Arbitrator was indeed standing behind them, dressed in a "casual" way, with a knee-length loincloth and simple cape, with his Bio-Mask under one arm. It had been a few months since he'd been back to the village, and Grey noticed that he'd picked up a few new scars since the last time they'd met. He must have come through the apartment to meet them out here, or he'd already been here waiting for them…

"I thought it best that I come to meet the two of you here, after you told me of your reservations about coming." Kantra said, looking from one to the other of the two females before him.

Grey couldn't stop herself from smiling; though she restrained herself from hugging him in her relief to be around someone familiar in this huge place.

"Are you going to stay here with us, Kantra?" Grey asked hopefully. No one would _dare_ mess with her when she was with him; but her hopes were dashed when he shook his head.

"I have duties to attend to here; but I will be residing with you, no. I have, in fact, requested that two males accompany you to and from Vi'ren's facility, and that they remain in one of the rooms of the apartment, in the chance that something should occur." the male said.

"Who?" both females asked. They didn't know anyone here, and didn't really like the idea of a couple of strangers around them that much.

"That will be them now, I think." Kantra said, looking upwards, and the other two followed his gaze to where a ship, even smaller than the one in which they'd traveled, descended and lightly touched down nearby. The door opened…

"V'KHA!" Grey shrieked with joy, and before he'd even disembarked, the human had thrown herself into his arms for a hug, momentarily forgetting that he was now a Blooded Hunter.

"Nothing for me? And I thought we were all but family…" a familiar voice said, in a tone of exaggerated disappointment.

"NANKU!" Grey cried, and jumped from the still stunned V'kha into the arms of her most beloved friend…but V'kha was an _extremely_ close second.

"I've missed both of you so much!" she said, looking from one of them to the other, taking stock of how much they'd grown, and all the scars they'd accumulated on their bodies since leaving the Lakeshore Village.

"As have we, Grey." Nanku replied, seeming unashamed of letting her fawn over him like this.

"We think of you often, my friend." V'kha added.

"How are they here?" Ijane asked, giving her son a questioning look.

"I requested their presence, told them what I wished of them, and they agreed. They seemed quite pleased to see Grey again, and I did not wish to leave you here with someone unfamiliar to you." Kantra explained, shrugging.

"Your Clan just let you leave?" Grey asked the pair of them.

"This is a mission given by an Arbitrator; it's considered a privilege…an _honor_." Nanku said.

"And the fact that it's an easy mission, in the company of people we like, doesn't hurt, either." V'kha added, with a smirk.

"Easy or not, I do not expect anything less than your absolute dedication to this task. There will be no slacking, no laziness or inattentiveness on your part, is that understood?" Kantra said, and the younger males straightened up and became serious.

"Yes, Arbitrator." they said in unison.

"And I know I likely need not warn you about this, Grey: but do _not_, under _any_ circumstances, venture out into the city alone. You are to be, at all times, in one of only three places: this apartment, Vi'ren's facility, or the transport going to or from the aforementioned locations. This apartment has everything you could need, including food; but if anything needs to be procured, either Nanku or V'kha will go and retrieve it for you."

He turned back to the younger males.

"I want at least one of you here, and vigilant, at all times. I expect that there will be no trouble; but if there is…"

He pulled from a pouch on his waist a small, ornate metal box, and came over to Grey before opening it.

Inside was what looked like a wide cuff bracelet; but it was made of a material unlike anything she'd seen on or off of Earth. It reminded her a little of the pictures she'd seen of Damascus steel; with thin veins of silver meandering across a darker background that was reminiscent of highly-polished hematite, and when the light moved across it, she couldn't tell if it was grey or black. As she looked closer, she could see that tiny Yautja writing was embossed across the surface, and there a few much larger markings that looked familiar…

"Is that what I think it is, Arbitrator?" V'kha asked, sounding a bit breathless as he looked at the bracelet.

"I've never seen one before…" Nanku added, both of them coming over to stare at the object. It was a beautiful thing, Grey had to admit…a work of art, really; but she didn't know what was supposed to be so awe-inspiring about it, until Kantra spoke up.

"Grey, this is called an Array. You will wear it at all times during your stay in the city." he said, and took it out of its box, which he handed to Nanku to hold. Kantra then ran his finger along what looked like a seam in the metal, and the bracelet sprang instantly open, whereupon he placed it on Grey's left wrist, closed it, and ran his finger over it again.

"This Array is coded to my genetic signature; meaning that I am the only one who may remove it. There is a tracking device embedded within it, so I may find you if something happens. The symbols you see are the marks of the Adjudicators, Arbitrators, and the Thwei-Luar-Ke Clan, and confer upon you certain protections and privileges as long as you wear the Array. I would not advise trying to remove it, as the only way to do so, other than my removing it for you, would be to remove your own hand." the Arbitrator explained.

Grey looked at the Array on her wrist. It was pleasantly heavy and smooth, and was just loose enough to be adjusted and moved a bit, but not enough for her to get her hand through it.

"I can't believe the Adjudicators authorized you to give this to her, Kantra…" Ijane said, looking at her son.

"When I told them of the situation, they agreed that some extra precautions should be taken." the same said.

"What do the Adjudicators have to do with any of this?" Grey inquired.

"The use of an Array must be approved by the Council before one can be made. There is no "main stock" of these; they are made for the individual who wears them, and are usually destroyed when they are no longer needed." Kantra said.

"Who did you get to make this one, cousin?" Nanku asked.

"Kwei, the quartermaster and weapon smith of my Clan. He nearly fell over when I told him I had chosen him to craft it. I actually went to the Council soon after the incident at the Great Temple and explained the need for one, and the Council took nearly three weeks to debate on the issue. Finally, though, they agreed that this Array could be made for Grey, and I have had it ever since."

Grey was surprised to hear that the same Yautja who'd made the super-advanced, phone-like device she always carried in a bag around her waist had also made the apparently near-sacred object on her wrist. His skill really was incredible…

"Well, now that I have taken care of that, I will show you around your apartments." Kantra said, never one for idle chit-chat.

He showed them the beautifully-appointed living room, with large windows that gave an incredible view of the city below, and the spacious bedrooms, where there were no large piles of cushions; just enormous pillow-looking things that turned out to be filled with some kind of thick gel, almost like water beds, and were covered by finely-woven blankets. They were also capable of being controlled with a panel on one side, which, somehow, caused the gel inside to become firmer or softer, and could also be set to a wide variety of temperatures, depending on the preferences of the sleeper.

"It'd be worth becoming an Elite just to get one of these!" Grey said, wiggling around on what felt like a comfortable pile of jelly covered with soft fabric.

The kitchen was bigger than Ijane's, and fully-stocked with a variety of foods, and Ijane made a note to check Vi'ren's database, in case anything here was unsafe for the human.

The bathroom was marvelous, and sported a huge tub that was actually about the same size as the pool outside. Dozens of small bottles and jars were lined up neatly on a shelf, containing bath oils, lotions and soaps, scented and unscented, in every color imaginable.

"This place is amazing…" Grey whispered, awestruck, as they returned to the huge living room, and she gazed out at the bustling city below.

"Then there will be no reason for you to go wandering off, I trust?" Kantra said, crossing his arms and looking seriously at her.

"I promise, I won't go running off anywhere. Believe me, I've got no desire to go out adventuring in this place, even with this." Grey said, holding up her left hand with the Array on her wrist.

"Good, then I will have to bid you both farewell for now. Mother, if you want or need anything, contact me, and I will see that your wishes are fulfilled. I will be checking in with you soon." Kantra said, and after briefly reminding Nanku and V'kha of their duties, he left through the apartments' main door, which led out into a wide, well-lit corridor, which, in turn, led down to the city streets.

**A/N – I actually spent a couple of days trying to figure out what to call Grey's new "accessory", before finally settling on "Array" as a name. Honestly, I'm not really feeling it, and if anyone has a better idea, let me know in a review or a PM.**


End file.
